Sreedharan vs The District Collector
2021 Latest Caselaw 18699 Ker

                    IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                     PRESENT

                  THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

         THURSDAY, THE 9TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2021 / 18TH BHADRA, 1943

                             WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

PETITIONERS:

     1         SREEDHARAN
               AGED 58 YEARS
               S/O KAVUNGAL VELAYUDHAN, KAVUNGAL HOUSE, ARUVAKODE, NILAMBUR
               POST, MALAPPURAM.

     2         RAMADAS K,
               S/O KAVUNGAL VELAYUDHAN, KAVUNGAL HOUSE, ARUVAKODE, NILAMBUR
               POST, MALAPPURAM.

     3         BHASKARAN,
               S/O KAVUNGAL VELAYUDHAN, KAVUNGAL HOUSE, ARUVAKODE, NILAMBUR
               POST, MALAPPURAM.

     4         SHANKARANARAYANAN,
               S/O KAVUNGAL VELAYUDHAN, KAVUNGAL HOUSE, ARUVAKODE, NILAMBUR
               POST, MALAPPURAM.

     5         SURESH M,
               S/O SHANKARAN NAIR, 32/24, RAJANI NIVAS, LIC ROAD, NILAMBUR
               POST, MALAPPURAM

     6         RAJESHWARI R,
               D/O CHANDRASHEKARAN, KARAT HOUSE, VETTIKUTH, NILAMBUR POST,
               MALAPPURAM

               BY ADV E.C.AHAMED FAZIL



RESPONDENTS:

     1         THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR,
               MALAPPURAM, CIVIL STATION, MALAPPURAM-676 505

     2         THE SPECIAL TAHSILDAR,
               LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM CIVIL STATION,
               MALAPPURAM-676 505.


     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 09.09.2021,

THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

                                      2



                               JUDGMENT

The petitioners' request for reference to the Competent

Authority under the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation

and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and

Resettlement Act, 2013 ('the Act', for short), with respect to their

property subjected to acquisition, has been rejected through

Ext.P6, holding that the application for the same has been filed

beyond the statutory time limit.

2. The petitioners say that when their application was

earlier rejected, they had approached this Court through W.P.

(C)No.14405 of 2020, which culminated in Ext.P5 judgment,

wherein, a learned Judge directed the Special Tahsildar, Land

Acquisition, to reconsider the matter and decide whether the

reasons cited for condonation of delay, in making the application,

are justified and if so, to issue appropriate orders doing so.

3. The petitioners say that, in spite of the specific

directions in Ext.P5 judgment, Ext.P6 order has been issued by the

Authority rejecting their application for condonation of delay,

merely saying that no documents had been produced during

hearing in substantiation of the reasons stated by them. WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

4. The petitioners allege that Ext.P6 is, therefore,

egregiously improper and thus pray that same be set aside; with a

consequential direction to the Special Tahsildar to reconsider the

matter, after affording them a further opportunity of being heard.

5. I have heard Sri.Ahamed Fazil, learned counsel for the

petitioner and Sri.Ashwin Sethumadhavan, learned Senior

Government Pleader, appearing for the official respondents.

6. The learned Senior Government Pleader submitted that,

as is evident from Ext.P6, when the hearing was conducted by the

Special Tahsildar, a learned counsel, appearing on behalf of the

petitioner, sought time to produce certain documents in

substantiation of the reasons for the delay pleaded in his

application. He submitted that however, after a month, the said

counsel appeared again and that no further documents need to be

produced and therefore, that the Special Tahsildar had no other

option but to reject the application for condonation of delay, as has

been done through Ext.P6. He, therefore, prayed that this writ

petition be dismissed and Ext.P6 be left uninterdicted.

7. I have examined Ext.P6, as also the directions of this

Court in Ext.P5 judgment.

WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

8. There can be no doubt that the applicable Statue permits

condonation of delay, in requesting for reference to the competent

Authority, upto one year, on proper cause being established by the

applicant.

9. In the case at hand, I notice that the delay caused is only

ten or eleven days or there about and I cannot, therefore, find why

the Special Tahsildar should rest on technicalities, particularly

when it has been well settled by a catena of judgments of this Court

and that of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, that while exercising

jurisdiction in matters like this, reasonable leniency must be shown

by the Authority.

10. However, when I see Ext.P6, it is clear that Special

Tahsildar has merely recorded therein that no documents had been

produced by the petitioner in support of his application for

condonation of delay, but no explanation has been given therein

why he found that the reasons shown were not satisfactory. I am,

certain that this mode adopted by the Special Tahsildar in Ext.P6

cannot be found favour with, particularly in view of the specific

directions in Ext.P5 judgment.

Resultantly, this writ petition is allowed and Ext.P6 is set

aside; with a consequential direction to the 2 nd respondent - Special WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

Tahsildar to reconsider the petitioner's application for condonation

of delay, after affording him a further opportunity of being heard;

thus culminating in an appropriate order thereon, as expeditiously

as is possible, but not later than one month from the date of receipt

of a copy of this judgment.

Needless to say, after the afore exercise, the directions in

Ext.P5 judgment of this Court will be scrupulously complied with by

the said Authority, leading to appropriate further action thereon,

without any avoidable delay thereafter.

sd/-

DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN JUDGE akv/rp WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

APPENDIX OF WP(C) 12690/2021

PETITIONER EXHIBITS

Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 38 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO FIRST PETITIONER

Exhibit P1(A) TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 39 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO SECOND PETITIONER

Exhibit P1(B) TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 39 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO THIRD PETITIONER

Exhibit P1(C) TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 30 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO FOURTH PETITIONER

Exhibit P(D) TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 31 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO FIFTH PETITIONER

Exhibit P1(E) TRUE COPY OF AWARD NO 42 OF 2016 DATED 25.10.2016 ISSUED TO SIXTH PETITIONER

Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CON DONATION PREFERRED BY FIRST PETITIONER DATED 31.12.2016

Exhibit P2(A) TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CONDONATION PREFERRED BY SECOND PETITIONER DATED 31.12.2016

Exhibit P2(B) TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CONDONATION PREFERRED BY THIRD PETITIONER DATED 31.12.2016

Exhibit P2(C) TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CONDONATION PREFERRED BY FOURTH PETITIONER DATED 31.12.2016

Exhibit P2(D) TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CONDONATION PREFERRED BY FIFTH PETITIONER DATED 17.5.2017

Exhibit P2(E) TRUE COPY OF OBJECTION ALONG WITH APPLICATION FOR DELAY CONDONATION PREFERRED BY SIXTH PETITIONER DATED 17.5.2017 WP(C) NO. 12690 OF 2021

Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF REPLY TO QUERRY (NO B-123/20200 UNDER TIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT DATED 30.1.2020 ISSUED BY SECOND RESPONDENT

Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-158/19 DATED 8.5.2019 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL), MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P4(A) TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-157/19 DATED 8.5.2019 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL), MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P4(B) TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-159/19 DATED 8.5.2020 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P4(C) TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-156/19 DATED 8.5.2019 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P4(D) TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-160/19 DATED 8.5.2019 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P4(E) TRUE COPY OF ORDER/COMMUNICATION NO B-161/19 DATED 8.5.2020 ISSUED BY SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM

Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF JUDGMENT DATED 11.9.2020 IN WPC NO 14405 OF 2020PASSED BY HONOURABLE HIGH COURT OF KERALA

Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF PROCEEDINGS NO B-158/2019 DATED 22.2.2021 PASSED BY THE SPECIAL TAHSILDAR, LAND ACQUISITION (GENERAL) MALAPPURAM