Md. Salik Uddin Ahmed v. The State of Assam

ORDER

27.01.2023 Heard Shri MK Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Shri AU Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Shri A. Bhattacharjee, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department for the respondent nos. 1 to 3 and Ms. S. Sarma, learned State Counsel for the respondent nos. 4 to 6.

¶2The writ petition was instituted in connection with a land acquisition proceeding being LA Case No. 10/2012-13 carried out in the district of Karimganj. It is the case of the petitioners that they were taken by surprise when they have come to know about a notice dated 08.12.2017 directing them to collect the land acquisition compensation with regard to the aforesaid LA case. The petitioners alleged that there has been gross violation of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 including the requirement of publishing the award within a stipulated time as laid down in Section 11A. It is the further case of the petitioners that the representation dated 14.12.2017 submitted by them has not yet been disposed of.

¶3Shri Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners, at the outset, however submits that the issue involved was also the issue in a connected writ petition namely, WP(C)/7067/2019 which has however been disposed of vide an order dated 13.12.2022. The learned Senior Counsel fairly submits that after going through Page No.# 4/6 the records produced in that case, this Court had come to a conclusion that the basic grievance of the petitioners was not factually correct as the records contained an award which was said to have been passed within the time provided and accordingly the said writ petition WP(C)/7067/2019 was disposed of. This Court however made certain observation with regard to the rights of the petitioners for making a reference under Section 18 of the Act as apparently, the period of limitation for taking steps for initiation of such reference is long over. The relevant observations made by this Court in the earlier judgment and order dated 13.12.2022 are extracted hereinbelow: "14. Section 18 gives the right to any person interested who has not accepted the Award to write to the collector requiring a reference to be made to the appropriate Court. For ready reference, Section 18 of the Act is extracted herein below: 18 Reference to Court. —

(1) Any person interested who has not accepted the Award may, by written application to the Collector, require that the matter be referred by the Collector for the determination of the Court, whether his objection be to the measurement of the land, the amount of the compensation, the persons to whom it is payable, or the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested.

(2) The application shall state the grounds on which objection to the Award is taken: Provided that every such application shall be made,—

(a) if the person making it was present or represented before the Collector at the time when he made his Award, within six weeks from the date of the Collector's Award;

(b) in other cases, within six weeks of the receipt of the notice from the Collector under section 12, sub-section (2), or within six Page No.# 5/6 months from the date of the Collector's Award, whichever period shall first expire.

¶15"Court" has also been defined under Section 3 (d) as per which it means the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction.

¶16As indicated above, limitation has been prescribed in Section 18 (2) as per which, for a person who was present or represented before the Collector at the time of making the Award, the application has to be made within 6 (six) weeks from the date of the Collector's Award and in other cases within 6 weeks from the date of receipt of notice under Section 12 (2) or within 6 months from the date of the Collector's Award which period shall first expire.

¶17In the instant case, the notices under Section 12(2) of the Act were dated

12.08.2017 and therefore, the application for making a reference should have been made on or within 6 weeks from 12.08.2017 or 6 months from the date of the Award which Award is earlier and in both the cases, the said period however has expired. The learned Senior Counsel has submitted that since the entire acquisition was a matter of challenge in this present writ petition, the period of limitation as prescribed in Section 18 (2) of the Act may be condoned and the petitioners, if so advised be permitted to put their application before the Collector to make a reference within a period of 6 weeks from today.

¶18Both Shri R. Borpujari, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department, and Ms. S. Sharma, learned State Counsel, submits that though the aforesaid proposal is not contemplated in the provisions of Section 18 of the Act, in the interest of justice, direction to that effect may be granted with however a rider that the petitioner would require to establish their right and interest over the land with proper description before the Collector and only in the event when the Collector is satisfied with such an application, the reference may be made to the Competent Court. Page No.# 6/6

¶19In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, while this Court does not find any merit in this writ petition, liberty is however granted to the petitioners to approach the Collector by filing a written application for consideration to make a reference under Section 18 of the Act. Since the time prescribed under Section 18 (2) of the Act has long expired, by taking into consideration the aforesaid provision, the application may be permitted to be filed within a period of 6 weeks from today. Further, the application is required to state all details of the land involved with the respective petitioners and their interest and right over the said along with supporting documents. The Collector is also required to apply his independent mind to the application so filed along with the materials to support the said application before taking a decision to make a reference to the competent Court under Section 18 of the Act."

¶4In view of the above, the present writ petition is also disposed of. It is however clarified that the aforesaid observations made in the earlier case would be applicable to this case also. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010002442018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/95/2018o MD.oSALIKoUDDINoAHMEDo S/O.oLATEoBASIRoUDDINoAHMED,oVILL.oDEFOLALA,oP.O.oBUBRIGHAT- 788724,oDISTRICT-oKARIMGANJ,oASSAM. 2:oMD.oTAUSIFoROSUL oSONoOFoSIDDEQUEoAHMED.oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oNAGHARIA oP.O.oBARAIGRAM-788723 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 3:oMD.oTAUHIDoROSUL oSONoOFoSIDDEQUEoAHMED.oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oNAGHARIA oP.O.oBARAIGRAM-788723 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 4:oMD.oAFRIDoROSUL oSONoOFoSIDDEQUEoAHMED.oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oNAGHARIA oP.O.oBARAIGRAM-788723 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 5:oMD.oABDULoJABBAR oS/O.oABDULoGAFUR oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oKUNAGRAM oP.O.oKANAIBAZAR-788724 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 6:oMD.oABDURoRAHMAN oS/O.oLATEoMUJAMMILoALI oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oKUNAGRAM PageoNo.#o2/6 oP.O.oKANAIBAZAR-788724 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 7:oMD.oABDULoMANNAN oS/O.oLATEoNAFARoALI oRESIDENToOFoVILL.oKUNAGRAM oP.O.oKANAIBAZAR-788724 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMo REP.oBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oREVENUEo DEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oREVENUEo(LANDoACQUISITION)oDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oPOSToOFFICEoGUWAHATI-781006 oASSAM. 3:THEoDEPUTYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oREVENUEo(LANDoACQUISITION)oDEPARTMNET oDISPUR oPOSToOFFICEoGUWAHATI-781006 oASSAM. 4:THEoDISTRICToCOLLECTORoANDoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKARIMGANJoDISTRICT oP.O.oKARIMGANJ-788710 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 5:THEoADDL.oDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoANDoLANDoACQUISITIONo COLLECTOR oOFFICEoOFoTHEoDISTRICToCOLLECTORoANDoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER o(LANDoACQUISITIONoBRANCH) oKARIMGANJoDISTRICT oP.O.oKARIMGANJ-788710 oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM. 6:THEoLANDoACQUISITIONoOFFICER Page No.# 3/6 OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR AND DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KARIMGANJ DISTRICT P.O. KARIMGANJ-788710 DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N DHAR Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI