N.Viswanathan Nair vs Special Deputy Collector
2022 Latest Caselaw 4084 Ker

          IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                           PRESENT
        THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN
  THURSDAY, THE 7TH DAY OF APRIL 2022 / 17TH CHAITHRA, 1944
                   WP(C) NO. 7335 OF 2022
PETITIONER:

         N.VISWANATHAN NAIR
         AGED 63 YEARS
         S/O LATE NARAYANAN NAIR, NANDANAM, BYPASS MAIN
         ROAD, MEVARAM, UMAYANALLOOR, KOLLAM- 691 589

         BY ADVS.
         C.UNNIKRISHNAN (KOLLAM)
         ANANDA PADMANABHAN
         MAHESH CHANDRAN



RESPONDENTS:

    1     SPECIAL DEPUTY COLLECTOR
          LAND ACQUISITION, NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF
          INDIA, DISTRICT COLLECTORATE, KOLLAM- 691 013

    2     THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR
          DISTRICT COLLECTORATE, KOLLAM- 691 013

    3     NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA
          REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN, G 5 & 6, SECTOR-10,
          DWARAKA, NEW DELHI- 110075

    4     ADDL.R4. THE PROJECT DIRECTOR
          NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA, NO.36/414(3),
          NEAR NSS HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL, PALKULANGARA,
          THIRUVANANTHAPURAM- PIN-695024

          IS IMPLEADED AS ADDL. R4 AS PER ORDER DATED
          24.03.2022 IN I.A.1/2022 IN WP(C) 7335/2022.

   5*     ADDL.THE BRANCH MANAGER
          CANARA BANK, ANANDAVALEESWARAM BRANCH, P.B.NO.2,
          PAI BUILDING, 26/847, ANANDAVALEESWARAM, KOLLAM -
          691013.
          *(ADDNL R5 IS IMPLEADED AS PER ORDER DATED 7.4.2022
          IN I.A.NO.2/2022 IN W.P(C)NO.7335/2022)

         SMT.K.AMMINIKUTTY.SR.G.P. SRI.E.C KURIAKOSE S.C.
 WP(C) NO. 7335 OF 2022           2

         SMT. RAMONA NAINPALLY

     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON 07.04.2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) NO. 7335 OF 2022              3

                             JUDGMENT

The petitioner says that his property and

building have now been acquired by the National

Highway Authority of India (NHAI), but that no Award

has been issued; consequently, constraining him to

prefer Exts.P3, P4 and P5 representations seeking

the details of the components of compensation that

are eligible to him.

2. The petitioner, however, concedes that even

though he was given an opportunity to appear before

the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA)

appointed under the provisions of the National

Highways Act ("NH Act" for short), when the

processes under Section 3G of the said Act were

taken forward, he was unable to do so and that, in

any event of the matter, he could not have produced

the documents in substantiation of his title or the

attributes of the building, because same are in the

custody of the 5th respondent - Canara Bank, who are

holding a mortgage over the property in question.

3. The petitioner, therefore, prays that

Exts.P3,P4 and P5 be directed to be taken up and

disposed of by the CALA within a time frame to be

fixed by this Court.

4. Even though the prayers in the writ petition

are as afore, when this matter was taken today,

Shri.Ananda Padmanabhan - learned counsel for the

petitioner, requested that the 5th respondent -

Canara Bank be directed to produce all the documents

of his client's title before the CALA, so that said

Authority can then consider it and issue an Award,

particularly because he has now been served with

Ext.P1 notice under Section 3E of the "NH Act".

5. Smt.Ramona Nainpally - learned counsel

appearing for the Canara Bank, submitted that if the

petitioner only requires the original of the title

documents to be produced before the CALA, on

condition that it can be taken back by them after it

is examined by the said Authority, she will not

stand in the way of appropriate orders being issued

by this Court.

6. Shri.E.C.Kuriakose - learned Standing Counsel

appearing for the NHAI, submitted that unless the

petitioner or the Canara Bank produces all the

original documents before the CALA in response to

Ext.P1 notice, the Award cannot be issued and that

the petitioner cannot seek the details of the same

without going through that procedure.

7. I must say that I find substantial force in

the submissions of the learned Standing Counsel for

the NHAI and I am certainly of the view that CALA

can act only if the documents are produced before it

by the Canara Bank.

8. I, therefore, asked the learned Senior

Government Pleader - Smt.K.Amminikkutty, whether the

documents to be produced by the Canara Bank can be

examined by the CALA and returned to them, so that

they can enforce the equitable mortgage over the

property in future. Her answer to this was to the

affirmative.

Resultantly, I order this writ petition with the

following directions:

(a) The 5th respondent - Canara Bank will produce

the original documents of the property and building,

owned by the petitioner and over which they claim an

equitable mortgage, before the CALA at 11.00 a.m. on

28.04.2022; on which day, said Authority will

examine the same and return the said documents to

them for their custody.

(b) On the CALA completing the afore exercise,

it will proceed to issue the Award, after affording

an opportunity of being heard to the petitioner; and

complete proceedings thereon, including for

disbursement of the eligible amounts - either to the

petitioner or to the Bank, as the case may be -

without any avoidable delay thereafter.

(c) Needless to say, if the petitioner is

unsatisfied with the Award, he is at liberty to

approach the competent Arbitrator under Section

3G(5) of the "NH Act"; for which purpose, all his

contentions are left open to be pursued and impelled

by him appropriately, including under the provisions

of Section 94 of the Right to Fair Compensation and

Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and

Resettlement Act, 2013.

Sd/-

DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN JUDGE MC/7.4

APPENDIX OF WP(C) 7335/2022

PETITIONER EXHIBITS

Exhibit P1 A TRUE COPY OF THE EVICTION NOTICE RECEIVED ON 11/11/2021

Exhibit P2 A TRUE COPY OF THE NOTICE DATED 19/07/2019 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER FOR PERSONAL HEARING ON 30/07/2019 AT 10:30 A.M

Exhibit P3 A TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 25-03-2021 FILED BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT

Exhibit P4 A TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 15/11/2021 BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT

Exhibit P5 A TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION FILED BEFORE THE 1ST RESPONDENT DATED 04/01/2022