Deepak Khanduri and others vs The Collector Tehri, District Tehri Garhwal and others

Sudhanshu Dhulia, J. (Oral)

The petitioners before this Court are the oustees of Tehri Dam. Admittedly their land was acquired for construction of Tehri Dam, wherein they have

received the compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as well. Thereafter, regarding the same land, an enhanced award was given and

therefore the present petitioners moved an application under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for re-determination of the amount of

compensation.

Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 reads as under:-

“28-A. Re-determination of the amount of compensation on the basis of the award of the Court. â€" (1) Where in an award under this Part, the

Court allows to the applicant any amount of compensation in excess of the amount awarded by the Collector under section 11, the persons interested

in all the other land covered by the same notification under section 4, sub-section (1) and who are also aggrieved by the award of the Collector may,

notwithstanding that they had not made an application to the Collector under Section 18, by written application to the Collector within three months

from the date of the award of the Court require that the amount of compensation payable to them may be re-determined on the basis of the amount of

compensation awarded by the Court:

(1) Provided that in computing the period of three months within which an application to the Collector shall be made under this sub-section, the day on

which the award was pronounced and the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the award shall be excluded.

(2) The Collector shall, on receipt of an application under sub-section (1), conduct an inquiry after giving notice to all the persons interested and giving

them a reasonable opportunity of being heard, and make an award determining the amount of compensation payable to the applicants.

(3) Any person who has not accepted the award under sub-section (2) may, by written application to the collector, require that the provisions of

sections 18 to 28 shall, so far as may be, apply to such reference as they apply to a reference under section 18.â€​

The application moved by the petitioners under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 has been rejected by the Collector vide order dated

16.08.2017 on a hyper-technical ground, wherein it has been held that the application which has been filed does not bear the signatures of all the

applicants and the notification under Section 4 has not been annexed. Whereas, the fact is that the petitioners are villagers who may not be aware of

the intricacies of the matter, therefore, they should have been given an opportunity to correct the deficiencies. In fact, as per sub-section (2) of

Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the Collector has got power to conduct an inquiry in the matter, which has not been done. Instead, he

has rejected the application moved under Section 28-A of the Act. The order passed by the Collector dated 16.08.2017 cannot sustain.

In view of the above, writ petition is allowed. Order dated 16.08.2017 passed by the Collector, Tehri Garhwal is hereby set aside. The petitioners

shall be permitted to move a fresh application before the concerned authority under Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 annexing the

entire details, which shall then be considered by the authority in accordance with law, by passing a speaking order.