Smti Ilabati Deb and 3 Ors v. Union of India and 12 Ors

ORDER Date : 18.09.2023

¶1The instant application has been filed by the Applicants who are the Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 seeking vacation/modification/alteration of the order dated 13.09.2023 passed by this Court in WP(C) No.5205/2023 and further seeking a direction upon the Authority indicated in the order dated 02.05.2023 to assess the market value of the Applicants' residential houses and structures standing in Dag No.203 of K.P. Patta No.63 under Mouza Langpher in the District of Karbi Anglong, Assam or alternatively, the aforesaid may be assessed by any other independent authority.

¶2This Court vide an order dated 13.09.2023 had stayed the interim order passed by the learned Arbitrator dated 19.04.2023 only to the extent wherein there was a direction to the Respondent Authorities not to demolish the residential houses, structures and trees on the land covered by Dag No.203 of K.P. Patta No.63. This Court had done so taking into account that by virtue of Section 3D of the National Highways Act, 1956 and more particularly, Sub-Section (2) of Section 3D of the said Act, the land vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances with the publication of the declaration made under Section 3D of the National Highways Act, 1956. This Court had also Page No.# 5/6 passed the interim order taking into account that the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 have not challenged the acquisition proceedings but rather had approached the Arbitrator under Section 3G(5) on account of inadequacy of the compensation and have sought for enhancement of the said amount. This Court had also taken note of that in view of the restraint order passed on 19.04.2023 by the learned Arbitrator in the arbitration proceedings, it has resulted in the ongoing construction works be stalled thereby affecting the public interest which in effect would lead to escalation of the prices.

¶3During the course of hearing, this Court had put a specific query upon Mr. G. Alam, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 as to whether the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 are willing to indemnify the Petitioners for the loss which would occasion on account of the order dated 19.04.2023 if allowed to remain operational. The learned counsel submits that his clients are not willing to indemnify the Petitioners in that regard.

¶4Further to that, this Court had also taken note of that the application so filed by the Applicants i.e. the Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 is for the purpose of enhancing the compensation meaning thereby that the question involved is as to whether the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 would be entitled to an enhanced amount or not. Under such circumstances, as it is a question of money which is involved, it is the opinion of this Court that it would not result in any irreparable loss, harm and injury to the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 if the order dated 19.04.2023 is stayed. Under such circumstances, this Court does not find any grounds for the purpose of modifying/altering/vacating the order dated 13.09.2023 passed in the accompanying writ petition.

¶5Before concluding, this Court also finds it relevant to take note of that Page No.# 6/6 during the course of hearing, Mr. G. Alam, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Applicants/Respondent Nos. 10 to 13 had submitted that there is a valuation report available as regards the houses standing over the lands in question. Mr. J. Chutia, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the KAAC submits that in terms with Section 29 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the competent authority through the Engineer of the Public Works Department of the Government of Assam had duly taken note of the measurement of the houses standing over the land immediately after the declaration made under Section 3D of the National Highways Act, 1956. These are the aspects of the matter are required to be adjudicated upon by the Arbitrator and as such this Court would not like to go into such details which may affect either the Applicants herein or the Respondents during the arbitration proceedings. Both the parties would be at liberty to place such materials before the learned Arbitrator.

¶6The accompanying writ petition i.e. WP(C) No.5205/2023 be listed again on

16.10.2023 as directed vide the order dated 13.09.2023.

¶7I.A. stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010212152023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oI.A.(Civil)/2837/2023o SMTIoILABATIoDEBoANDo3oORS.o W/OoLATEoSADHANoDEV,oR/OoVILL-oHOWRAGHAToTINIALI,oMOUZA- LANGPHER,oP.O.-KACHUPUKHURI,oP.S.-HOWRAGHAT,oDIST-KARBIo ANGLONG,oASSAM,oPIN-o782482 2:oSUDHAMAoDEB oS/OoLATEoSADHANoDEV oR/OoVILL-oHOWRAGHAToTINIALI oMOUZA-LANGPHER oP.O.-KACHUPUKHURI oP.S.-HOWRAGHAT oDIST-KARBIoANGLONG oASSAM oPIN-o782482 3:oHARIPADoDEB oS/OoLATEoSADHANoDEV oR/OoVILL-oHOWRAGHAToTINIALI oMOUZA-LANGPHER oP.O.-KACHUPUKHURI oP.S.-HOWRAGHAT oDIST-KARBIoANGLONG oASSAM oPIN-o782482 4:oSATYAJIToDEB oS/OoLATEoSADHANoDEV oR/OoVILL-oHOWRAGHAToTINIALI oMOUZA-LANGPHER oP.O.-KACHUPUKHURI oP.S.-HOWRAGHAT oDIST-KARBIoANGLONG oASSAM oPIN-o78248o PageoNo.#o2/6 VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo12oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,oMINISTRYo OFoROADoTRANSPORToANDoHIGHWAYS,oTRANSPORToBHAWAN,o1,o PARLIAMENToSTREET,oNEWoDELHI-110001 2:THEoEXECUTIVEoDIRECTOR oNHIDCL o2NDoFLOOR oAGNISHANTIoBUSINESSoPARK oOPPoAGPoOFFICE oAMBARI oGUWAHATI-781001 3:THEoGENERALoMANAGERo(LAoANDoCOORD) oNATIONALoHIGHWAYSoINFRASTRUCTUREoDEVELOPMENTo CORPORATIONoLTD. oREGIONALoOFFICE-oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-781001 4:THEoGENERALoMANAGERo(P) oNATIONALoHIGHWAYSoINFRASTRUCTUREoDEVELOPMENTo CORPORATIONoLTD. oPMU oDIPHU oPWDo(IB) oPWDoCOLONY oLUMDINGoROAD oDIPHU oPIN-782460 5:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM oGENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 6:THEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oREVENUEoANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 Page No.# 3/6 7:THE KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL SECRETARY DIPHU KARBI ANGLONG ASSAM PIN-782460 8:THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL DIPHU KARBI ANGLONG ASSAM PIN-782460 9:THE JOINT SECRETARY CUM COMPETENT AUTHORITY FOR LAND ACQUISITION KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL ASSAM PIN-78246 10:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL ASSAM PIN-782460 11:THE ASSISTANT SETTLEMENT OFFICER PHULONI REVENUE CIRCLE KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL ASSAM PIN-782460 12:THE ASSISTANT REVENUE OFFICER PHULONI REVENUE CIRCLE KARBI ANGLONG AUTONOMOUS COUNCIL ASSAM PIN-782460 13:THE NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN G5 AND 6 SECTOR 10 DWARKA NEW DELHI-11007 For the Applicant(s) : Mr. G. Alam, Advocate Page No.# 4/6 For the Respondent(s) : Mr. R. K. Talukdar, Advocate : Mr. J. Chutia, Advocate : Mr. C. Baruah, SC, NHAI : Mr. B. Gogoi, Standing Counsel : Ms. P. R. Mahanta, SC, Revenue Department : Mr. U. Das, Government Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH