Rati Ram And Others vs State Of Haryana And Others
2022 Latest Caselaw 8289 P&H

RFA-2211-2019 (O&M)                                                     -1-

      IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
                     CHANDIGARH
                                     RFA-2211-2019 (O&M)
                                     Reserved on: 27.07.2022
                                  Date of decision: 02.08.2022

RATI RAM AND ORS.                                            ..Appellants
                                     Versus
STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS.                                    ..Respondents

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANILKSHETARPAL

Present:    Mr. Shailendra Jain, Sr. Advocate
            with Mr. Satyendra Chauhan, Advocate
            for the appellants.

            Mr. Shivendra Swaroop, AAG, Haryana.

ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.

1. The landowners assail the correctness of award passed by the

Reference Court (hereinafter referred to as 'the RC') while deciding the

petition under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter

referred to as 'the 1894 Act') vide judgment dated 19.05.2018. The reference

application filed by the appellants has been dismissed on the ground that it

was filed beyond the period prescribed.

The details of the said acquisition are extracted as under:-

             Date of     Notification      under 25.01.2008
             Section 4
             Village/City, Hadbast No.           Hayatpur, District Gurgaon,
             Total Extent acquired               1.2 acres
             Purpose of acquisition              For the development and
                                                 utilization of land for 150
                                                 mtrs. wide periphery road
                                                 linking Dwarka Township
                                                 Delhi       from    Haryana
                                                 Boundary to NH8 near
                                                 village Kherki Daula at
                                                 Guargaon
             Collector's Award                   Rs.60 lacs per acre




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2. The Land Acquisition Collector (hereinafter referred to as "the

LAC') vide award No.16 dated 26.09.2008, assessed the market value of the

acquired land at the rate of Rs.60,00,000/- per acre. The appellants submitted

an application under Section 18 of the 1894 Act to the LAC on 06.03.2014

while claiming that it has been submitted within the period prescribed for its

submission. The RC has held that the appellants received the amount on

03.11.2009, under the award No.16 dated 26.09.2008, therefore their

application was beyond the prescribed period of limitation.

3. This Bench has heard the learned counsel representing the

parties at length and with their able assistance perused the paperbook.

4. At the outset, it is important to note that a Larger Bench of the

Supreme Court in Mohd. Hasnuddin Vs. State of Maharashtra (1979) 2

SCC 572., concluded that neither the LAC nor the RC has any power to

condone the delay in filing application under Section 18 of the 1894 Act. It

has been held that such application should not be referred by the LAC to the

Court and even it is referred, the same is liable to be outrightly rejected.

5. It may be noted here that in various judgments including Raja

Harish Chandra Raj Singh Vs. Deputy Land Acquisition Officer and

another, AIR 1961 (SC) 1500, Parsottambhai Maganbhai Patel and others

Vs. State of Gujarat, (2005) 7 SCC 431, Mahadeo Bajirao Patil Vs. State

of Maharashtra and others, (2005) 7 SCC 440, and, Bhagwan Dass and

other Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others (2010) 3 SCC 545,the Apex

Court has held that the period of limitation in absence of receipt of notice

under Section 12 of the 1894 Act by the landowners shall begin to run from

the date of actual and constructive knowledge of the award passed by the

LAC.

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6. Now, the question that needs adjudication is "as to whether the

appellants on receipt of the amount under the award on 03.11.2009 had the

actual and constructive knowledge of the award passed by the LAC on

26.09.2008 or not?"

7. At the cost of repetition, it may be noted that the appellants

while filing the application under Section 18 do not claim that they have no

actual or constructive knowledge of the award passed by the LAC. It may

further be noted here that essentially the award contains information with

regard to the extent of land acquired and the market value assessed by the

LAC. Neither before the RC nor before this Court, the learned counsel

representing the appellants made an attempt to draw the attention of the

Court to any substantive evidence to prove that they did not have actual and

constructive knowledge of the passing of the award. The judgments relied

upon by the learned counsel representing the appellants have laid down that

the period of limitation would begin to run from the date of actual and

constructive knowledge of the award passed by the LAC. In the absence

thereof, this Court is left with no choice but for to dismiss the appeal,

particularly when neither in the application under Section 18 of the 1894 Act

nor in evidence the appellants have proved that they had no actual

knowledge of the passing of the award particularly when they received the

amount payable under the LAC's award on 03.11.

8. Consequently, finding no merit, the appeal is dismissed.

9. All the pending miscellaneous applications, if any, are also

disposed of.

02nd August, 2022                                    (ANIL KSHETARPAL)
Ay                                                         JUDGE
Whether speaking/reasoned          : Yes/No
Whether reportable                 : Yes/No



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