Jharkhand High Court
Dinesh Kumar Thakur vs M/S Damodar Valley Corporation ... on 16 June, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Letters Patent Appellate Jurisdiction)
L.P.A No. 440 of 2019
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Dinesh Kumar Thakur, age 45 years, s/o Sri Bhola Nath Nayak,
r/o Purana Bazar Gomoh, Behind Gomoh Hardware, PO-Gomoh,
PS-Hariharpur, District-Dhanbad. ... Appellant
Versus
1. M/s Damodar Valley Corporation represented through its
Chairman DVC Towers VIP Road Kolkata (WB)
2. The General Manager Personnel and Administrator Damodar
Valley Corporation Chandrapura, PO & PS-Chandrapura, District-
Bokaro.
3. The State of Jharkhand.
4. The District Land Acquisition Officer Bokaro, PO & PS-Bokaro
Steel City, District-Dhanbad ... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RATNAKER BHENGRA
For the Appellant : Mr. Sanjay Prasad, Advocate
For the State : Ms. Priti Priyamvada, AC to GP-V
For the Respondent-DVC : Mr. Srijit Choudhury, Advocate
Ms. Tanya Rai, Advocate
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ORDER
16th June 2023
Per, Shree Chandrashekhar, J.
I.A No. 49 of 2022
This interlocutory application has been filed seeking
condonation of delay of 120 days in filing this present Letters
Patent Appeal.
The respondents have raised no objection.
For the reasons stated in this application the delay of
120 days in filing this Letters Patent Appeal is condoned and,
accordingly, I.A No. 49 of 2022 is allowed.
L.P.A No. 440 of 2019
The appellant is questioning legality of the order dated
8th February 2019 by which W.P.(C) No. 5995 of 2010 has been
dismissed by the writ Court.
2. In W.P.(C) No. 5995 of 2010 the appellant has made a
prayer for employment under the Rehabilitation Scheme in lieu of
acquisition of 3.18 acres of raiyati land.
3. The admitted facts of this case are that for expansion of
the projects of M/s Damodar Valley Corporation (in short, DVC) a
land acquisition proceeding vide Case No. 50 of 1958-59 was
initiated, award was prepared and compensation to the land
owners was paid. The claim of the appellant is that there was a
scheme for providing employment to the land losers and several
persons were given employment under the same scheme as late as
in the year 2008. The appellant has further stated that he made an
application for providing employment to him under the said
scheme on 6th August 2010 but no decision was taken by the DVC
to provide him employment. The appellant has taken support from
an order passed in C.W.J.C No. 1828 of 1998(R) in which by an
order dated 28th September 1999 a direction was issued to the DVC
to consider the claim of the applicants therein and finally those
persons were granted employment in the year 2008.
4. In the first place, we would indicate that the appellant
was not even born in the year 1958 when the acquisition
proceeding was started for acquiring lands for expansion of projects
of the DVC. The Rehabilitation Scheme which was floated by the
DVC must necessarily be confined to the persons who were eligible
for appointment on the date of acquisition/award. In our opinion
no such scheme can provide a hereditary right to any person even
if he falls under the category of land loser.
5. The writ Court has taken note of this situation in the
following manner:
"9. The scheme of rehabilitation employment cannot be
permitted to perpetuate even after more than 50 years. Grant of
employment under rehabilitation scheme after such a long period
would also be violative of Article 16 of the Constitution of India. The
appointment on the ground of rehabilitation cannot be considered
as an alternative source of recruitment or a scheme for reserving
future vacancies for minor children of the displaced persons.
10. In the case of Talkeshwar Baskey Vs. The Damodar Valley
Corporation & Ors. (W.P(S) No. 4138 of 2012) with Dil Mohammad
Vs. Damodar Valley Corporation & Ors. (W.P.S No. 4186 of 2012)
wherein the claim of employment was rejected by a Bench of this
Court observing that the land were acquired by the Government in
the year 1958-59 itself about 58 years ago and that cannot make
out a perpetual claim for appointment of the persons in the
displaced category for all times to come. The said judgment was
also affirmed by the learned Division Bench of this Court in the
case of Dil Mohammed Vs. The Damodar Valley Corporation & Ors.
(L.P.A No. 248 of 2917) with following observation:
"4. It appears that this appellant has waited only for
few generation, necessarily or unnecessarily, but, the
fact remains that those who are not vigilant for their
rights, the Court cannot hold them and more
particularly, this appellant is not vigilant for more
than 50 years, therefore, no writ can be issued, even
if, any wrong is committed by the respondent no. 1,
hence, no error is committed by the learned Single
Judge while deciding writ petition being W.P(S) No.
4138 of 2012 vide judgment and order dated
13.06.2016."
11. In the light of the above discussion, I am of the considered view
that since the land was acquired in 1958-59 and the petitioner
made representation in the year 2010 i.e after about 50 years, such
a belated claim cannot be entertained, Though the petitioner has
tried to equate his case with other persons who were provided
employment in the year 2008, yet they had raised the claim much
before and filed writ petition in the year 1998, Thus, there is
reasonable difference between the present petitioner vis-à-vis the
petitioners of C.W.J.C. No. 1828 of 1998(R). The petitioner has
sought relief under equitable writ jurisdiction. There is a well-
known maxim of equity. "vigilantibus non dormientibus, aequitas
subvenit" i.e equity comes to the aid of those who are vigilant, not
those who sleep over their rights. The petitioner slept for about 50
years and only having come to know that some persons have got
employment pursuant to the order passed in C.W.J.C. No, 1828 of
1998(8), he started pursuing his matter in the year 2010."
6. In the aforesaid facts and circumstances, we find no
plausible ground to interfere in this matter and, accordingly, L.P.A
No. 440 of 2019 is dismissed.
(Shree Chandrashekhar, J.)
(Ratnaker Bhengra, J.)
Jharkhand High Court, Ranchi
Dated: 16th June 2023
Amit
N.A.F.R
