TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (9) TMI 1586
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....re decisis in that it has been followed in a large number of judgments1. 3. The facts of the present case are as follows. A Notification Under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was issued on 24th October, 1961, stating that the public purpose for acquisition was the planned development of Delhi. This Notification covered large tracts of land in and around Delhi. In this case, we are concerned with 33 bighas and 1 biswa of land in the Vasant Kunj area of New Delhi. This Section 4 Notification was followed by a Notification Under Section 6 dated 4th January, 1969, which in turn, was followed by notices issued Under Section 9 on 26th April, 1983. An award relating to the aforesaid land was then made by the Land Acquisition Collector, New Delhi, only on 12th December, 1997. Possession of the said land, being an open piece of land, was taken by a Panchnama dated 27th January, 2000. An affidavit that has been filed by the Commissioner, Land Management, Delhi Development Authority in this Court, pursuant to an order of this Court dated 17th April, 2015, discloses that the requisite compensation for taking over the said land was deposited by the DDA with the Land Acquisition ....
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....s interpreted by the Supreme Court and this Court in the following decisions, stand satisfied: (i) Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr. v. H.M. Solanki 2014(2) SCC 183, (ii) Union of India and Ors. v. Shiv Raj and Ors. (2014) 6 SCC 564. (iii) Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Association v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.: Civil Appeal No. 8700/2013. (iv) Surender Singh v. Union of India and Ors.: W.P.(C) No. 2294/2014 decided on 12.09.2014 by this Court; and (v) Gyanender Singh and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. W.P.(C) No. 1393/2014, 10.09.2014. 6. As a result, the Petitioners are entitled to a declaration that the said acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act in respect of the subject lands are deemed to have lapsed. It is so declared. 6. The present appeals have, therefore, been filed by both the Land Acquisition Collector and the DDA. 7. Shri Amarendra Sharan, Senior Advocate, appearing for the DDA and Ms. Rachna Srivastava, Advocate, appearing for the Land Acquisition Collector, have argued before us that Pune Municipal Corporation needs to be revisited on essentially two grou....
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....e in the day to go back on the ratio of Pune Municipal Corporation, which squarely applies on the facts of the present case, as it has now been followed in a catena of judgments. 9. Having heard the arguments on both sides, it is necessary to first set out the relevant provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. In these appeals, we are directly concerned with Section 11 under which enquiry and award are to be made by the Collector, Section 12 which states that the Collector is to give immediate notice of his award to persons interested who are not present personally when the award is made; Section 16 which deals with the taking of possession and vesting of land; and Sections 31 and 34 which deal with payment of compensation. Accordingly, the said Sections are set out hereinbelow: 11. Enquiry and award by Collector.-(1) On the day so fixed, or on any other day to which the enquiry has been adjourned, the Collector shall proceed to enquire into the objection (if any) which any person interested has stated pursuant to a notice given Under Section 9 to the measurements made Under Section 8, and into the value of the land at the date of the publication of the notification....
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....s award to such of the persons interested as are not present personally or by their representatives when the award is made. 16. Power to take possession.-When the Collector has made an award Under Section 11, he may take possession of the land, which shall thereupon vest absolutely in the Government, free from all encumbrances. 31. Payment of compensation or deposit of same in Court.-(1) On making an award Under Section 11, the Collector shall tender payment of the compensation awarded by him to the persons interested entitled thereto according to the award and shall pay it to them unless prevented by some one or more of the contingencies mentioned in the next Sub-section. (2) If they shall not consent to receive it, or if there be no person competent to alienate the land, or 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 am....
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....provision, when read with Section 31 of the Act, makes it clear that the statutory scheme is that the Collector is to tender payment of compensation awarded by him to the persons who are interested and entitled thereto, according to the award, on the date of making the award itself. It is therefore, clear that under the statutory scheme, the Collector must be armed with the amount of compensation payable to persons interested as soon as the award is made. Such persons have to be paid the sum mentioned in the award, it being well settled that the award is only an offer which may be accepted or rejected by the claimants. If accepted, whether under protest or otherwise, it is the duty of the Collector to make payment as soon as possible after making the award. It is only in a situation where the persons interested refuse consent to receive monies payable, or there be no person competent to alienate the land, or if there be any dispute as to title to receive compensation or its apportionment, is the Collector to deposit the amount of compensation in the reference court. It is only after these steps have been taken that the Collector may take possession of the land, which shall thereupo....
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....ces. In the instant case, after making the payment in terms of the award, possession was taken. The acquisition process stood completed. . 11. Given the fact that the State has been prompt in acquiring land for public purposes, but tardy in tendering or paying compensation, the 2013 Act came in as a beneficial legislation to the aid, in particular, of poor farmers whose lands had been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act but compensation had not been tendered or paid as required under the said Act. With this object in mind, Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act was enacted. Section 24 reads as follows: 24. Land acquisition process under Act No. 1 of 1894 shall be deemed to have lapsed in certain cases.-(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, in any case of land acquisition proceedings initiated under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,- (a) where no award Under Section 11 of the said Land Acquisition Act has been made, then, all provisions of this Act relating to the determination of compensation shall apply; or (b) where an award under said Section 11 has been made, then such proceedings shall continue under the provisions of the ....
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....rs, start all over again. 14. The picture that therefore emerges on a reading of Section 24(2) is that the State has no business to expropriate from a citizen his property if an award has been made and the necessary steps to complete acquisition have not been taken for a period of five years or more. These steps include the taking of physical possession of land and payment of compensation. What the legislature is in effect telling the executive is that they ought to have put their house in order and completed the acquisition proceedings within a reasonable time after pronouncement of award. Not having done so even after a leeway of five years is given, would cross the limits of legislative tolerance, after which the whole proceeding would be deemed to have lapsed. It is important to notice that the Section gets attracted if the acquisition proceeding is not completed within five years after pronouncement of the award. This may happen either because physical possession of the land has not been taken or because compensation has not been paid, within the said period of five years. A faint submission to the effect that 'or' should be read as 'and' must be turned d....
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....oceedings are not at all affected by Section 24(2) and the only right that survives to the landowners is to receive compensation. [para 7] 16. After setting out Section 24(2), the Court went on to hold: Section 24(2) also begins with non obstante clause. This provision has overriding effect over Section 24(1). Section 24(2) enacts that in relation to the land acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act, where an award has been made five years or more prior to the commencement of the 2013 Act and either of the two contingencies is satisfied viz. (i) physical possession of the land has not been taken, or (ii) the compensation has not been paid; such acquisition proceedings shall be deemed to have lapsed. On the lapse of such acquisition proceedings, if the appropriate Government still chooses to acquire the land which was the subject-matter of acquisition under the 1894 Act then it has to initiate the proceedings afresh under the 2013 Act. The proviso appended to Section 24(2) deals with a situation where in respect of the acquisition initiated under the 1894 Act an award has been made and compensation in respect of a majority of landholdings has not been d....
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....as may be. While enacting Section 24(2), Parliament definitely had in its view Section 31 of the 1894 Act. From that one thing is clear that it did not intend to equate the word "paid" to "offered" or "tendered". But at the same time, we do not think that by use of the word "paid", Parliament intended receipt of compensation by the landowners/persons interested. In our view, it is not appropriate to give a literal construction to the expression "paid" used in this Sub-section [Sub-section (2) of Section 24]. If a literal construction were to be given, then it would amount to ignoring the procedure, mode and manner of deposit provided in Section 31(2) of the 1894 Act in the event of happening of any of the contingencies contemplated therein which may prevent the Collector from making actual payment of compensation. We are of the view, therefore, that for the purposes of Section 24(2), the compensation shall be regarded as "paid" if the compensation has been offered to the person interested and such compensation has been deposited in the court where reference Under Section 18 can be made on happening of any of the contingencies contemplated Under Section 31(2) of the 1....
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....asury is of no avail and cannot be held to be equivalent to compensation paid to the landowners/persons interested. We have, therefore, no hesitation in holding that the subject land acquisition proceedings shall be deemed to have lapsed Under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. [paras 11, 14-20] 17. Both the learned Counsels on behalf of the Appellants first sought to distinguish the aforesaid judgment with reference to Standing Order No. 28 of 1909 which applies to Delhi. In so far as the said Standing Order is relevant to this case, its provisions are set out hereinbelow: 71. Payment of compensation when made-As soon as the award has been announced the acquiring officer will proceed to pay the compensation awarded to those persons who are present and who accept the award. Sufficient notice should be given to enable all payees to assemble at the place where they will receive their dues but no time should be wasted on useless endeavours to secure the attendance of absentees. A note shall be made of the names of those persons who refused to accept the amount awarded or who accept it under protest. Much trouble will be avoided if the principle that payment of compensati....
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....r a, b, c or d as the case may be in column 7 of the statement when the whole amount of the award is shown in one of the four sub-columns a, b, c or d in the statement. 74. Methods of making payments-There are five methods of making payments: (1) By direct payments, see paragraph 75(I) infra0 (2) By order on treasury, see paragraph 75(II) infra (3) By Money Order, see paragraph 75(III) infra (4) By cheque, see paragraph 75(IV) infra (5) By deposit in a treasury, see paragraph 75(V) infra 75. Direct payments (V) By treasury deposit-In giving notice of the award Under Section 12(2) and tendering payment Under Section 31(1) to such of the persons interested as were not present personally or by their representatives when the award was made, the officer shall require them to appear personally or by representatives by a certain date to receive payment of the compensation awarded to them, intimating also that no interest will be allowed to them if they fail to appear, if they do not appear and do not apply for a reference to the civil court Under Section 18, the officer ....
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....yment, a receipt is countersigned making it immediately payable at the treasury to the payee. Otherwise, in certain circumstances, payment is to be made by money order and/or by cheque. When we come to paragraph (V), it is clear that payment is made into the treasury only when persons who are served notice Under Section 12(2) are not present personally at the time the award is delivered. Even though they may not appear at that stage, the officer shall require them to appear personally or by representatives by a certain date to receive payment of compensation awarded. It is only if they fail to appear after such an intimation, and if the officer, after further endeavours to secure their attendance, cannot so secure their attendance, that amounts due are to be paid to the treasury as revenue deposited payable to persons to whom they are due. It is clear, therefore, that sub-para (V), when read in its proper perspective, is not a separate mode of payment by itself as is contended by learned Counsel for the Appellants. It is a residuary mode of payment after all necessary efforts have been made by the authorities to secure the attendance of the persons entitled to compensation, and it ....
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....mes to complete acquisition proceedings. In so doing, what is of significance is contained in paragraphs 3 and 4 which are set out hereinbelow: 3. Taking-over possession of notified land: i. As soon as the award is announced, the Land Acquisition Collector shall compulsorily issue notice to the interested persons Under Section 12 of the L.A. Act and the service of notice shall be kept in records and shall also submit a demand of the compensation amount to the Land & Building Department with a copy to the DDA/intending agency within 30 days of the announcement of the award. The Land & Building Department shall forward the demand to the DDA within 7 days. DDA/other agency will release the payment to L&B Deptt. within 30 days after receipt of the communication from the L&B Department/LAC as the case may be. As soon as the money is received by the LAC, notice Under Section 12(2) shall be issued. The LAC will takeover the possession of the land and handover the same to the DDA/intending department. The Land Acquisition Collector shall not take possession of the acquired land unless & until the compensation amount is received by him from the intending depart....
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.... by the presence of subsequent purchasers. As has been pointed out in Meera Sahni's case [(2008) 9 SCC 177], that the moment Section 4 of the Delhi Lands (Restrictions on Transfer) Act, 1972, applies, a sale subsequent to a Section 6 notification becomes illegal, being hit by Section 4 of the said Act. This being the case, it is of no avail to the State, to submit (which submission has been made in the Supreme Court for the first time), that there is a dispute between the original owner and the subsequent purchaser, as a result of which compensation could neither be tendered nor paid. Apart from the said plea being an afterthought, it is also of no avail to either the DDA or the Land Acquisition Collector who, in any case, were not in any dilemma as to who should be paid. In fact, it is clear that the deposit made in Court pursuant to the order of the High Court of Delhi dated 30th December, 2013 has only been made in order to pay the original owner of the land. Accordingly, this plea has also to be turned down. 24. We now come to the other grounds on which Shri Sharan, in particular, based his arguments. According to Shri Sharan, a perusal of Section 11A of the Land Acquisi....
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....ion 11A can have no application to cases of acquisitions Under Section 17 because the lands have already vested in the Government and there is no provision in the said Act by which land statutorily vested in the Government can revert to the owner. [para 15] 26. Satendra Prasad Jain's case has been held in a subsequent judgment, namely, Laxmi Devi v. State of Bihar (2015) 10 SCC 241, to have a limited ratio. The limited ratio has been said to be that it is not open to the beneficiary of an acquisition who has failed to make the necessary monies available, and who has been in occupation of the land since its possession was taken, to subsequently urge that such possession was taken illegally. It is clear that on the facts of that case, it was the land owners who filed a writ petition asking for a mandamus to complete the acquisition proceedings, and the State and the beneficiary of acquisition tried to resile from it by contending that the acquisition proceedings had lapsed Under Section 11A of the Act. It was in these peculiar circumstances that the aforesaid judgment was delivered. 27. Even going by paragraph 15 of the Satendra Prasad Jain's case, we find that the diff....
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....C p. 411, para 37) (i) No hard-and-fast Rule can be laid down as to what act would constitute taking of possession of the acquired land. (ii) If the acquired land is vacant, the act of the State authority concerned to go to the spot and prepare a panchnama will ordinarily be treated as sufficient to constitute taking of possession. (iii) If crop is standing on the acquired land or building/structure exists, mere going on the spot by the authority concerned will, by itself, be not sufficient for taking possession. Ordinarily, in such cases, the authority concerned will have to give notice to the occupier of the building/structure or the person who has cultivated the land and take possession in the presence of independent witnesses and get their signatures on the panchnama. of course, refusal of the owner of the land or building/structure may not lead to an inference that the possession of the acquired land has not been taken. (iv) If the acquisition is of a large tract of land, it may not be possible for the acquiring/designated authority to take physical possession of each and every parcel of the land and it will be suffic....