Gujarat High Court
Dharmendra Jagjivanbhai Chandra vs Union Of India on 28 January, 2025
Author: Sunita Agarwal
Bench: Sunita Agarwal
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1006 of 2025
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DHARMENDRA JAGJIVANBHAI CHANDRA & ANR.
Versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR ANAND M RANPARA(10976) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
MS. HETAL PATEL, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3,4
MR. MAULIK G. NANAVATI, ADVOCATE FOR NANAVATI & CO.(7105) for the
Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE
SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI
Date : 28/01/2025
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL)
[1] Heard learned counsels for the parties and perused the record.
[2] By means of the present petition, the petitioners seek the
following reliefs:-
"9. (B) This Honourable Court will be pleased to issue the
writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or
direction in the nature of mandamus, directing the
respondents authorities to pay the amount of interest at
the rate of 12% per annum compound interest on the
amount of compensation awarded to the present
petitioners from the date of deposit i.e. 31.05.2020 till the
date of payment i.e. 27.05.2024.;
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(C) Pending admission hearing and till the final disposal of
the present petition, this Honourable Court will be pleased
to direct the respondent authorities to calculate the
amount of interest payable to the petitioners herein and
deposit the said amount before this Honourable Court;"
[3] The only prayer made in the writ petition is to pay interest at
the rate of 12% per annum (compound interest) on the compensation
awarded to the petitioners under the award dated 30.01.2020, from
the date of deposit of the compensation by NHAI, i.e., 31.05.2020 till
the date of payment, i.e., 27.05.2024.
[4] The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that
after the award was declared on 30.01.2020, the notice under
Section 3E(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (hereinafter
referred to as "the Act, 1956) was issued by the competent authority
on 28.01.2022 asking the land holders / petitioners to remain present
before the competent authority to submit the papers pertaining to
their entitlement for compensation. The possession of the land in
question had been taken over on 31.05.2022. The petitioners were
making representations before the competent authority for payment
of compensation even after possession was taken on 31.05.2022 and
when nothing was done, a writ petition, namely Special Civil
Application No.6060 of 2024 was filed with the reliefs as under:-
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"9 (B) This Honourable Court will be pleased to issue the
writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or
direction directing the respondents authorities to pay the
amount of compensation to the present petitioners as
determined by the award dated 30.01.2020 passed by the
respondent no. 2 authority in acquisition of land for
widening and expansion of National Highway no. 151(a);
(C) This Honourable Court will pleased to issue
appropriate writ, order or direction to the respondent
authorities directing them to pay the interest over the
amount of compensation at the rate of 12% from the date
of award till the date of realisation to the present
petitioners;
(D) Pending admission hearing and till the final disposal of
the present petition, this Honourable Court will be pleased
to direct the respondent authorities to deposit the amount
payable to the present petitioners before this Honourable
Court;"
[5] The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that
the prayer for award of interest over the amount of compensation at
the rate of 12% from the date of award till the date of realization was
already made before this Court in the previous round of litigation and
on the presentation of the writ petition, the same was disposed of
vide judgment and order dated 18.04.2024 granting liberty to the
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petitioners to raise the issues by making a representation, without
entering into the claim of the petitioners. The submission, thus, is
that pursuant to the directions contained in the judgment and order
dated 18.04.2024, when the petitioners realized that interest at the
rate of 12% has not been paid to them from the date of determination
under the award dated 30.01.2020 till the date of payment, i.e.,
27.05.2024, they have filed the present petition seeking for interest
on the delayed payment of compensation on the part of the
competent authority.
[6] The submission, thus, is that the present petition has been filed
with the specific prayer to award interest on the delayed payment
from the date of deposit till the date of payment, i.e., 27.04.2024 to
which the petitioners herein are entitled to.
[7] Considering the said submissions made by the learned counsel
for the petitioners, we may record that on determination of the
amount of compensation under the award passed under Section
3G(1) of the Act, 1956, the NHAI is required to make the deposit
under Section 3H(1) of the Act, 1956, which was made admittedly in
this case on 31.05.2020, i.e., within a period of four months from the
date of making of the award. The NHAI being the acquiring body,
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could have taken possession of the land in question after deposit of
the compensation amount under Section 3H(1) of the Act, 1956.
Admittedly, in the instant case, the possession of the land in question
was taken on 31.05.2022 by the NHAI after completion of the
necessary formalities. There is, thus, no question for payment of
interest for the period from the date of deposit, i.e., 31.05.2020 till
the date of taking over possession, i.e., 31.05.2022.
[8] With regard to any delay on the part of the competent
authority in disbursement of compensation as alleged in the writ
petition, we may record that the notice under Section 3E(1) of the
Act, 1956, after the deposits were made by the NHAI under Section
3H(1) of the Act, 1956 was issued by the competent authority and
only after the receipt of the papers of the land holders with regard to
their entitlement of compensation, possession was delivered to the
NHAI.
[9] As regards the delay in making payment to the petitioners after
31.05.2022 till 27.05.2024, for a period of approximately two years,
suffice it to note that in the previous writ petition, though the
petitioners made a prayer for payment of interest over and above the
amount of compensation at the rate of 12%, but there is no such
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provision in the Act for payment of interest over and above the
amount deposited by the NHAI which is 31.05.2020. The
compensation amount is required to be disbursed on completion of
the procedure prescribed in Section 3H of the Act, 1956, which has
been done in the instant case.
[10] As noted hereinbefore, in the previous round of litigation, no
specific direction has been given by this Court for grant of interest to
the petitioners. It seems that the occasion for filing the present
petition arose on account of the fact that this Court had not entered
into the merits of the claim of the petitioners and relegated the
petitioners to approach the competent authority by making a proper
representation.
[11] Be that as it may, it is a matter of compulsory acquisition of the
land in question which is guided by the provisions of the Act, 1956
and in absence of any provision for award of interest over and above
the amount deposited by the NHAI under the award dated
30.01.2020, which was computed by the competent authority by
including statutory interest, we cannot grant the prayer made in the
writ petition. As regard the NHAI, as noted hereinabove, there is no
delay on the part of the NHAI in making the deposits. It is,
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therefore, not possible for us to issue any direction for payment of
interest over and above the amount of compensation computed under
the award dated 30.01.2020, which includes statutory interest
payable under the Act, 1956. The disbursement of compensation was
at the end of the competent authority. The writ petition, therefore,
deserves to be dismissed being devoid of merits. The writ petition
stands dismissed.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, C.J.)
(PRANAV TRIVEDI, J.)
DHARMENDRA KUMAR
