Mrs. Paramjit Kaur vs The Secretary to Government Punjab Department of Housing and Urban Development and Others

T.H.B. Chalapathi, J.—The petitioner has filed this writ petition for issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to pay interest on the amount of compensation for the period from June 10, 1993 to January 5, 1994, at the rate of 15 per cent per annum.

The land of Charan Singh and his brother Rattan Singh was acquired in the year 1972. Though the award was passed on October 4, 1972 the amount of compensation has not been paid. Thereafter, Land Acquisition Act was amended in 1984. After coming into force of the Act of 1984, said Charan Singh and his brother Rattan Singh filed an application on March 15, 1985, u/s 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act to pass a fresh award in terms of the amending provisions. The said application was rejected on August 26, 1987, without affording an opportunity to the applicants. Father of Charan Singh died in September, 1987. As the application filed by Charan Singh and his brother Rattan Singh was decided ex-parte on August 26, 1987, the petitioner challenged the same in this Court by filing Civil Writ Petition No. 15037 of 1992. The said writ petition was disposed of by a Division bench of this Court on March 31, 1993, by setting aside the order dated August 24, 1987 and directing the Land Acquisition Collector to decide the matter afresh in accordance with law within a period of three months from the date of the said order. Thereafter, the Land Acquisition Collector passed the award on June 10, 1993, vide Annexure P-l. In the said award, the Land Acquisition Collector awarded interest at the rate of 9 per cent from November 28, 1972, to November 27, 1973 and at the rate of 15 per cent from November 28, 1973, to June 10, 1993. it is an admitted fact that the amount so awarded was paid to the owners of the land on January 5, 1994. The petitioner has filed this writ petition on the ground that she is entitled to interest from the date of award i.e. June 10, 1993 till the date of payment of the amount i.e. January 5, 1994, at the rate of 15 per cent.

There is no controversy that the balance amount of compensation originally determined was Rs. 2,75,878.25. On the said amount, interest was awarded at the rate of 9 per cent for the first year which came to Rs. 24,828.04 and the interest from November 28 1973 to June 10, 1993, which came to Rs. 8,08,417.75. Thus, the total amount payable came to Rs. 11,09,125.04. This amount was admittedly paid to the claimants including the petitioner on January 5, 1994. In this writ petition, the petitioner is claiming interest at the rate of 15 per cent on the total amount of Rs. 11,09,125.04 from the date of award i.e. June 10, 1993, till January 5, 1994. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that had this amount of Rs. 11,09,125.04 been paid on the date of award, she would have had the benefit of the said amount and because of the delay in payment, she incurred loss of interest on the said amount and therefore the petitioner is entitled to interest at the rate of 15 per cent on the total amount of compensation including interest. I am unable to appreciate this contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner. Interest on interest cannot be paid. The Act provides the payment of interest on the amount of compensation determined for the acquisition of land, but it does not provide payment of interest on interest. Therefore, the petitioner would be entitled to interest on the principal amount to which she is entitled from June 10, 1993, till the actual date of payment i.e. January 5, 1994.

Accordingly, I allow this writ petition partly and direct the respondents to pay interest on the share amount of the petitioner i.e. Rs. 2,75,878.25 at the rate of 15 per cent from the date of award i.e. June 10, 1993, till January 5, 1994. It is admitted by both the parties before me that the petitioner is the only daughter of Charan Singh and the total amount of compensation of Rs. 2,75,878.25 is payable to her and her uncle Rattan Singh. Thus, she is entitled to Rs. 1,37,939. Therefore, the petitioner is entitled to interest on this amount of Rs. 1,37,939 at the rate of 15 per cent from June 10, 1993 to January 5, 1994. The respondents are directed to pay the interest thus payable to the petitioner within one month from today.