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TMI Blog2017 (12) TMI 1887X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of India for appropriate orders. - Hon'ble Judges Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy, JJ. For the Appellant : P.S. Patwalia, ASG, J.P. Cama, Sr. Adv., Sanjay Kapur, Megha Karnwal, Mansi Kapur, Ripusudan Sharma, B.S. Banthia and Sachin Daga, Advs. For the Respondents : Prachi Mishra, C.D. Singh, Chaitanya, Pragya Garg, Naveen Sharma and Mishra Saurabh, Advs. JUDGMENT Arun Mishra, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. The question arises whether by virtue of the provisions contained in Section 24 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Act of 2013 ), the proceedings lapsed in the instant case. 3. The facts in short are that the Indore Development Authority (for short, the IDA ) established Under Section 38 of the Madhya Pradesh Nagar Tatha Gram Nivesh Adhiniyam, 1973 (for short, the Adhiniyam of 1973 ) prepared a Master Plan which came into force on 21.3.1995, formulated scheme Nos. 124(A) and (B) Under Section 50(1) of the Adhiniyam of 1973 and decided to acquire land for the purpose of constructing Ring Road and Link Road on the outskirts of Indore city. The ring road has been fully construc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and Anr. (2014) 3 SCC 183 and Shree Balaji Nagar Residential Association v. State of Tamil Nadu (2015) 3 SCC 353. 5. Shri P.S. Patwalia, learned senior Counsel urged that there was no lapse of proceedings in the instant case as compensation was offered but was not accepted by landowners. For their own refusal they cannot lay the blame at the door of the IDA. The provisions of Section 24 cannot come to the rescue of such incumbents. Even if the compensation has not been deposited with the Reference Court Under Section 31(2) of the Act of 1894 the effect would be of payment of higher interest Under Section 34. The expression used in Section 24 of the Act of 2013 is 'compensation has not been paid'. It is not that that the expression used is that it has not been deposited Under Section 31. It was further submitted there was no lapse of the proceedings under the Act of 1894 in view of non-deposit Under Section 31. The only liability was of higher interest of 9% for the first year from the date of taking possession and thereafter to pay the interest at 15%. When the consequence of lapse of land acquisition proceedings was not provided in the Act of 1894, in case of failure to de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... if there be any dispute as to the title to receive the compensation or as to the apportionment of it, the Collector shall deposit the amount of the compensation in the Court to which a reference Under Section 18 would be submitted: Provided that any person admitted to be interested may receive such payment under protest as to the sufficiency of the amount: Provided also that no person who has received the amount otherwise than under protest shall be entitled to make any application Under Section 18: Provided also that nothing herein contained shall affect the liability of any person, who may receive the whole or any part of any compensation awarded under this Act, to pay the same to the person lawfully entitled thereto. (3) Notwithstanding anything in this Section the Collector may, with the sanction of [appropriate Government] instead of awarding a money compensation in respect of any land, make any arrangement with a person having a limited interest in such land, either by the grant of other lands in exchange, the remission of land-revenue on other lands held under the same title, or in such other way as may be equitable having regard to the interests of the parties concerned. (4 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the notification for acquisition Under Section 4 of the said Land Acquisition Act, shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Provisions of Section 12 of the Act of 1894 are extracted hereunder: 12. Award of Collector when to be final.-(1) Such award shall be filed in the Collector's office and shall, except as hereinafter provided, be final and conclusive evidence, as between the Collector and the persons interested, whether they have respectively appeared before the Collector or not, of the true area and value of the land, and the appointment of the compensation among the persons interested. (2) The Collector shall give immediate notice of his award to such of the persons interested as are not present personally or by their representatives when the award is made. 8. Shri Patwalia, learned senior Counsel, urged that the expression used 'compensation has not been paid' in Section 24(2) does not relate to deposit of the amount as envisaged Under Section 31(2) of the Act of 1894. The proviso to Sub-section (2) of Section 24 uses the expression where an award has been made and compensation in respect of a majority of land holdings ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l the beneficiaries would become entitled for higher compensation under the new Act. In case amount has been tendered/deposited with the Land Acquisition Collector and has been deposited in the separate account of the beneficiaries in the concerned Treasury as per the provisions of the Finance Code/Rules of the concerned State, that has to be treated as sufficient compliance of the proviso to Section 24(2) of the Act of 2013. 11. It was urged that in case landowners do not consent to receive the amount, the Collector was required to deposit it in the Reference Court as provided in Section 31(2) but failure to make the deposit has been culled out in the Act itself as provided in Section 34. Thus proceedings would not lapse. 12. It was also urged that Section 31 of the Act clearly shows that consequence of non-compliance of Sub-section (1) or Sub-section (2) thereof is not that of the acquisition proceedings becoming invalid. The Act of 1894 never intended that the consequence of non-compliance of said provision of the Act, proceedings would become invalid. Reliance has been placed on Hissar Improvement Trust v. Rukmani Devi and Anr. (1990) (Supp) SCC 806 in which this Court has laid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to be filed in the High Court immediately thereafter in 1977 in the High Court and obviously further proceedings were stayed. Accordingly, the Land Acquisition Officer delayed the award. After the dismissal of the writ petitions, the Appellants came to this Court and obtained status quo. Obviously, the Land Acquisition Officer was not in a position to pass the award immediately. Thereafter it would appear that he passed the award on March 22, 1983. Section 34 of the Act obligates the State to pay interest from the date of taking possession under the unamended Act @ 6 per cent and after the Amendment Act 68 of 1984 at different rates mentioned therein. The liability of the State to pay interest ceases with the deposit made as per Section 34 of the Act. Further liability would arise only when the court on reference Under Section 18 enhances the compensation Under Section 28 of the Act. Similarly, in an appeal Under Section 54 of the Act if the appellate court further increases the compensation, then again similar obligation Under Section 28 arises. 4. In the light of the operation of the respective provisions of Sections 34 and 28 of the Act, it would be difficult to direct payment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hich are required to be scrupulously followed. For Punjab, Financial Commissioner's standing order No. 28 paras 74 and 75 lay down such procedure. It was also urged that in Damadilal v. Parashram AIR 1976 SC 2229, it was observed that payment by cheque is a valid tender. 17. It was also urged that when a reference is made to a District Court and in case amount of compensation is increased, the amount also is required to be deposited as ordered by the court but it would not invalidate acquisition proceedings. Reliance has been placed on Viraraghava v. Krishnasami, ILR 6 Mad. 347 in which it was observed that the money paid into the treasury is to be considered as money or movable property impressed with the trusts and obligations of the immovable property which it represents. The rights of parties to the land, and to any mortgage on, or interest in it, are transferred to the compensation money. 18. It was also urged that the object of such deposit is to prevent unnecessary prolongation of the proceedings and accumulation of Collector's liability for interest. When a party willfully refuses to receive payment by depositing the money in the court, the liability for interest wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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