TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1993 (9) TMI 373
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.... the said Act was applied and the provisions of Section 5-A were dispensed with. On 24th October, 1986 the Section 6 declaration was issued which applied to the said land the provisions of Section 17(1). It stated that the Collector of Meerut could, though no award under Section 11 had been made, on the expiration of fifteen days from the date of publication of the notice under Section 9(1), take possession of the said land. The Section 9(1) notice was published on 2nd December, 1986. The appellants impugned the acquisition proceedings by filing a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court (being Writ Petition No. 1841 of 1986). The same was dismissed by a Division Bench on 19th January, 1987. The judgment upheld the acquisition proceedings. It found that there was urgency in the public purpose for which the said land was acquired and that the Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti (the third respondent before us) had the means to construct the market yard and godowns. On 27th February, 1987 the possession of the land was taken by the first and second respondents from the appellants and handed over to the third respondent. A Special Leave Petition filed before this Court by the appellants agai....
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....rovisions of Section 17(1) the land vested absolutely in the first respondent and the first respondent had become its owner. It had been held by this Court that where possession had been taken the Government was not at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition either under the provisions of Section 48 or by utilising the provisions of the General Clauses Act. Section 11-A had to be interpreted harmoniously with the other provisions of the said Act and could not apply where the proceedings for acquisition of the land had already come to an end by reason of the land having vested in the Government. 10. Learned Counsel for the first and second respondents fairly stated that an award would be made within such time as the court considered reasonable. 11. Learned Counsel for the third respondent supported the reasoning of the judgment under appeal. He also submitted that the requirements of Section 17(3A), namely, the tender of 80 per cent of the estimated compensation for the said land not having been complied with, the taking of possession of the said land from the appellants was illegal and there was, therefore, no vesting thereof in the first respondent. He submitted that for be....
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....ossession has not been taken. 13. Section 17 provides from cases where there is urgency. The relevant provisions for our purposes read thus : 17. Special powers in cases of urgency - (1) In cases of urgency, whenever the appropriate Government so directs, the Collector, though no such award has been made, may, on the expiration of fifteen days from the publication of the notice mentioned in Section 9, Sub-section (1), take possession of any land needed for public purpose. Such land shall thereupon vest absolutely in the Government, free from all encumbrances. (3-A) Before taking possession of any land under Sub-section (1) or Sub-section (2), the Collector shall, without prejudice to the provisions of Sub-section (3),. (a) tender payment of eighty per centum of the compensation for such land as estimated by him to the persons interested entitled thereto, (b) pay it to them, unless prevented by some one or more of the contingencies mentioned in Section 31, Sub-section (2), and where the Collector is so prevented, the provisions of Section 31, Sub-section (2), (except the second proviso thereto), shall apply as they apply to the payment....
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.... period of two years from the date of Section 6 declaration. In the ordinary case, therefore, when Government fails to make an award within two years of the declaration under Section 6, the land has still not vested in the Government and its title remains with the owner, the acquisition proceedings are still pending and, by virtue of the provisions of Section 11-A, lapse. When Section 17(1) is applied by reason of urgency, Government takes possession of the land prior to the making of the award under Section 11 and thereupon the owner is divested of the title to the land which is vested in the Government. Section 17(1) states so in unmistakable terms. Clearly, Section 11-A can have no application to cases of acquisition 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. 16. Further, Section 17(3-A) postulates that the owner will be offered an amount equivalent to 80 per cent of the estimated compensation for the land before the Government takes possession of it under Section 17(1). Section 11-A cannot be so construed as to leave the Governme....