Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur

Durga Devi vs Union Of India ... on 14 September, 2023

Bench: Pushpendra Singh Bhati

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4978/2023

Sunil Sancheti S/o Shri Prakash Sancheti, Aged About 54 Years, Resident Of A-334, Navkar, Shastri Nagar, Jodhpur, (Raj.).

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents Connected With S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2402/2023 Gopa Ram S/o Lumba Ram, Aged About 50 Years, By Caste Patel, Resident Of Gram Basni Silawata, Post Boranada, Tehsil And District Jodhpur (Raj.).

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2439/2023

1. Smt. Priti Bhandari W/o Ajay Bhandari, Aged About 39 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 186, 1St C Road, Sardarpura, Jodhpur.

2. Smt. Manjulata Garg W/o Magraj Garg, Aged About 59

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Years, By Caste Aggrawal, Resident Of B-126, 1St Extension, Kamla Nehru Nagar, Jodhpur.

3. Smt. Parul Garg W/o Kamal Kishor Garg, Aged About 53 Years, By Caste Aggrawal, Resident Of B-126, 1St Extension, Kamla Nehru Nagar, Jodhpur.

4. Smt. Sumanlata Aggrawal W/o Rajesh Aggrawal, Aged About 48 Years, By Caste Aggrawal, Resident Of 147, Pawan Vihar, Near Br Birla School, Jodhpur.

5. Smt. Sankuntala W/o Sampat Raj, Aged About 69 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 186, 1St C Road, Sardarpura, Jodhpur.

6. Sushila Kotari W/o Narpat Chand Kotari, Aged About 58 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 118, Gali No. 2, Pal Link Road, Shyam Nagar, Jodhpur.

7. Roopa Devi W/o Askaran, Aged About 55 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 447, Sava Ki Gali, Nagaur.

8. Smt. Santosh W/o Navratanraj, Aged About 60 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 186, 1St C Road, Sardarpura, Jodhpur.

9. Sunita Bhandari W/o Manoj Bhandari, Aged About 52 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 186, 1St C Road, Sardarpura, Jodhpur.

10. Saroj W/o Jamboo Kumar Bafna, Aged About 64 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of Ayodhya Nagar, Gal Goan, Maharashtra.

11. Smt. Chandu Parakh W/o Mahendra Parakh, Aged About 63 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 90, Ashok Nagar, Pal Road, Jodhpur.

12. Smt. Manju Parakh W/o Narendra Parakh, Aged About 56 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 91, Ashok Nagar, Pal Road, Jodhpur.

13. Smt. Sangita Parakh W/o Virendra Parakh, Aged About 53 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of 90, Ashok Nagar, Pal Road, Jodhpur.

14. Smt. Kiran W/o Jagdish Sen, Aged About 53 Years, By Caste Sen, Resident Of 55, Abhaygarh Scheme, Air Force, Jodhpur.

15. Smt. Priyanka D/o Jagdish Sen, Aged About 30 Years, By

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Caste Sen, Resident Of 55, Abhaygarh Scheme, Air Force, Jodhpur.

16. Smt. Kamla Devi W/o Champa Lal Sen, Aged About 68 Years, By Caste Sen, Resident Of 625, Laxman Nagar C, Nandri, Jodhpur.

17. Smt. Puni Devi W/o Late Shri Mohan Lal Sen, Aged About 87 Years, By Caste Sen, Resident Of 108, Mohilo Ka Bass, Bijapur, Sojat, District Pali.

18. Smt. Shanti Devi Parakh W/o Jaswant Raj Parakh, Aged About 88 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of A-117, Shashtri Nagar, Jodhpur.

19. Smt. Madhu Parakh W/o Ashok Parakh, Aged About 59 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of A-117, Shashtri Nagar, Jodhpur.

20. Smt. Anjana Parakh W/o Praveen Chand Parakh, Aged About 50 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of A-117, Shashtri Nagar, Jodhpur.

21. Smt. Chandu Jain W/o Nirmal Kumar Jain, Aged About 63 Years, By Caste Oswal, Resident Of Bantiyon Ki Pole, Nagaur.

----Petitioners Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2463/2023 Tara Mehta W/o J.s. Mehta, Aged About 70 Years, Managing Director Akshay Stocks And Credit Pvt. Ltd. Add. 171, Gnt Road, Puzhal, Chennai - 66.

----Petitioner Versus

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1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2486/2023 R.s. Aggrawal S/o Shri Daulal Aggrawal, Aged About 65 Years, By Caste Aggrawal, Resident Of B-2004, Garden Estate Laxmi Nagar, Off Link Road, Opp. Icici Bank, Goregaon, West Mumbai, Maharashtra (Raj.).

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2606/2023 Tara Mehta W/o J.s. Mehta, Aged About 70 Years, Managing Director Akshay Stocks And Credit Pvt. Ltd. Add. 171, Gnt Road, Puzhal, Chennai - 66.

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

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4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2839/2023

1. Durga Devi W/o Ramakishan, Aged About 54 Years, Resident Of 11, Kumharon Ka Bass, Pali, (Raj.).

2. Ramakishan S/o Hastimal Solanki, Aged About 60 Years, Resident Of Jangiwara, Pali, (Raj.).

3. Bhagan Sahay Khandelwal S/o Gyarsi Lal, Aged About 78 Years, Resident Of Veer Durgadas Nagar, Pali, (Raj.).

----Petitioners Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Project Director, Project Implement Unit, National Highway Authority Of India, House No. 148, Umaid Heritage Jodhpur, District Jodhpur.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Additional Distirct Collector, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 3235/2023 Madhusudan Lakhotia S/o Satyanarayan Lakhotia, Aged About 67 Years, 204, Veer Durga Das Nagar, Pali Marwar, District Pali, (Raj.)

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Project Director, Project Implement Unit, National Highway Authority Of India, House No.148, Umaid Heritage Jodhpur, District Jodhpur.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Additional Distirct Collector, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 3264/2023

1. Sawai Ram S/o Mishri Lal, Aged About 43 Years, 112,

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Dewasiyon Ka Bass, Leelamba, Pali (Raj.).

2. Mangla Ram S/o Prabhuji, Aged About 45 Years, 351, Devkunj, Raikon Ka Bass, Pali (Raj.).

----Petitioners Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Project Director, Project Implement Unit, National Highway Authority Of India, House No.148, Umaid Heritage Jodhpur, District Jodhpur.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Additional Distirct Collector, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

----Respondents S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4605/2023 Chandrakala Sancheti W/o Prakash Sancheti, Aged About 73 Years, Resident Of A-334, Navkar, Shastri Nagar, Jodhpur, (Raj.).

----Petitioner Versus

1. Union Of India, Through The Secretary, Ministry Of Road, Transport And Highway, Government Of India, New Delhi.

2. The Chairman, National Highways Authority Of India, G-5 And 6, Sector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi 110075.

3. The Prescribed Authority (Land Acquisition) And Sub Divisional Officer, Rohat, Pali, District Pali, Rajasthan.

4. The Project Director And Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, National Highway Block, Pali (Raj.).

----Respondents

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Pradeep Swami. For Respondent(s) : Mr. KS Rajpurohit, AAG.

Mr. Sushil Bishnoi.

HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI

Order

14/09/2023

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1. Learned counsel for the parties are in agreement that the

controversy involved in these writ petitions are similar to the

order passed by a coordinate Bench of this Hon'ble Court in

Sushila Pathak Vs. Union of India & Ors.: S.B. Civil Writ

Petition No. 6365/2022 alongwith other connected matters on

09.11.2022. The relevant operative portion of the order dated

09.11.2022 reads as under:-

"I have considered the submissions made at the Bar.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Tarsem Singh (supra) held as under:-

"41. There is no doubt that the learned Solicitor General, in the aforesaid two orders, has conceded the issue raised in these cases. This assumes importance in view of the plea of Shri Divan that the impugned judgments should be set aside on the ground that when the arbitral awards did not provide for solatium or interest, no Section 34 petition having been filed by the landowners on this score, the Division Bench judgments that are impugned before us ought not to have allowed solatium and/or interest. Ordinarily, we would have acceded to this plea, but given the fact that the Government itself is of the view that solatium and interest should be granted even in cases that arise between 1997 and 2015, in the interest of justice we decline to interfere with such orders, given our discretionary jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. We therefore declare that the provisions of the Land acquisition Act relating to solatium and interest contained in Section 23(1A) and (2) and interest payable in terms of section 28 proviso will apply to acquisitions made under the National Highways Act. Consequently, the provision of Section 3J is, to this extent, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and, therefore, declared to be unconstitutional. Accordingly, Appeal @ SLP (C) No. 9599/2019 is dismissed."

In view of the submissions made before this Court and taking into consideration the fact that Section 3-J of

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the National Highways Act, 1956 is held to be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The petitioners are permitted to withdraw the present writ petitions with liberty to approach the Arbitrator as per Section 3(G)(5) of National Highways Act, 1956. The petitioners shall move an appropriate application along with an application for condonation of delay before the Arbitrator within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of the certified copy of this order, which shall be considered by the Arbitrator strictly in accordance with law.

Needless to say that the Arbitrator after giving a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the petitioners shall decide the application so preferred by them by a speaking order strictly in accordance with law.

Since the matter pertains to the year 2014, therefore, it is expected from the Arbitrator that he shall conclude the arbitration proceedings at the earliest preferably within a period of one year from the date of filing the same.

Accordingly, the present writ petitions are dismissed as withdrawn."

2. In light of the aforequoted order, the present writ petitions

are disposed of in the same terms. All pending applications also

stand disposed of.