2015 (9) TMI 1756

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....uee property. It was acquired Under Section 12 of the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 (in short 'the DPCR Act'). Thereafter the property was transferred to the compensation pool Under Section 14 of the said Act. A decision was taken to transfer the subject property out of the compensation pool to displaced persons. In an auction held on 6.8.1958 the predecessors of the Respondents (hereinafter referred to as the Respondents) offered the highest bid which was accepted on 15.10.1958. After adjustment of the verified claims, the Respondents were asked to deposit the balance price within 15 days which was so done. On 10.3.1959, the Respondents were informed by the Appellant that their bid has been accepted and provisional possession of the property is being handed over to them. 3. On 13.11.1959 a notification Under Section 4 of the LA Act was issued proposing to acquire 34070 acres of land in several villages including Village Basai Darapur where the subject land was situated. The notification Under Section 4 specifically excluded from the purview of the acquisition Government and evacuee land. After the Section 4 notification was issued and pri....

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....cuee property is concerned, therefore, has no application to the subject land. 7. It is further argued that though in the present case the sale certificate in respect of the property was issued on 25.1.1962 and the property therein was transferred to the Respondents with effect from the said date, there is no inherent contradiction between the transfer of title in favour of the Respondents on a subsequent date and the acquisition of the property or initiation of such process of acquisition on a prior date. In this regard placing reliance on a judgment of this Court in Saraswati Devi (Dead) by L.Rs. v. Delhi Development Authority and Ors. 2013 (3) SCC 571 it is contended that the bid offered by the Respondent; the acceptance thereof and the delivery of provisional possession creates an encumbrance on the subject land which is amenable to a process of acquisition under the LA Act as held in Saraswati Devi (supra). 8. Reliance has also been placed on a judgment of this Court in Delhi Administration and Ors. v. Madan Lal Nangia and Ors. 2003 (10) SCC 321 to contend that the evacuee property vests in the Custodian for the purposes contemplated by the Administration of Evacuee Prop....

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.... date being anterior to the date of transfer of title in favour of the Respondents. 11. Two questions as set out below, in our considered view, arise for determination in the present case. (i) Whether the land, after issuance of notification Under Section 12 of the DPCR Act, ceased to be evacuee property so as to be excluded from the purview of the notification issued Under Section 4 of the LA Act? (ii) If the subject land vested in the Central Government upon publication of the notification Under Section 12 of the DPCR Act and thereby ceased to be evacuee land, could such land vested in the Central Government be acquired under the provisions of the LA Act? 12. A reading of the provisions of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 would go to show that the said Act (since repealed with effect from 5.9.2005) had been enacted for the administration of evacuee property and for matters connected therewith. While it will not be necessary to set out the definition of "evacuee" and "evacuee property" as defined in the said Act regard must be had to the provisions of Section 6 which contemplated appointment by the Central Government by means of a notificati....

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....standing anything to the contrary contained in the 3 Indian Companies Act, 1913 (7 of 1913), or in the articles of association of the company, the same rights in the matter of making a requisition for the convening of a meeting or of presenting a petition to the Court under the provisions of the Indian Companies Act, 1913, or the articles of association of the company or in any other matter as the evacuee shareholder himself could have done had he been present, although the name of the Custodian does not appear in the register of members of the company; (ll) in any case where the evacuee property which has vested in the Custodian consists of fifty-one per cent. or more of the shares in a company, the Custodian may take charge of the management of the whole affairs of the company and exercise, in addition to any of the powers vested in him under this Act, all or any of the powers of the directors of the company, notwithstanding that the registered office of such company is situate in any part of the territories to which this Act extends, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (7 of 1913), or in the articles of as....

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....Sub-section (1) of Section 12 "the right, title and interest of any evacuee in the evacuee property specified in the notification shall, on and from the beginning of the date on which the notification is so published be extinguished and the evacuee property shall vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances." Under Sub-section (4) of Section 12 all such evacuee property acquired forms part of the compensation pool which Under Section 14 vests in the Central Government "free from all encumbrances and shall be utilised in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder". The vesting of the property in the Custodian under the Administration of Evacuee Property Act (Section 8) and in the Central Government (after issuance of Section 12 notification under the DPCR Act) are two distinct and different phases which are contemplated to be brought into effect by specific acts and conscious decisions as contemplated by the provisions of the two enactments. The clear language of Section 8 of Administration of Evacuee Property Act and Sections 12(2) & (4) and 14 of the DPCR Act makes it abundantly clear that the transition from the vesting of the....

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....ation of Evacuee Property Act, 1950, and vest that property in the Central Government. He would, therefore, not be competent to deal with the property in any manner in the absence of any provision in either of these two enactments permitting him to do so. No provision was, however, pointed out to us in either of these Acts whereunder despite the vesting of the property in the Central Government the Custodian was empowered to deal with it. Sub-section 4 of Section 12 of the 1954 Act provides that all evacuee property acquired under that section shall form part of the compensation pool. Under Section 16(1) of this Act the Central Government is empowered to take such measures as it considers necessary or expedient for the custody, management and disposal of the compensation pool. Sub-section 2 of Section 16 empowers the Central Government to appoint such officers as it deems fit or to constitute such authority or corporation as it deems fit for the purpose of managing and disposing of the properties forming part of the compensation pool. Section 19 of the Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or any other law for the time being in force but subject to th....