Swadhin Halder & Anr. vs Chhabi Kundu & Ors.

By consent of the parties, the appeal is treated as on day''s list and taken up for consideration along with the application for stay.

The instant appeal arises out of a judgment and order dated 3rd July, 2017, passed by a learned Single Judge in WP 19487 (W) of 2016 (Smt. Chhabi Kundu & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors.).

By the said judgment and order, the writ petition of Smt. Chhabi Kundu and Smt. Snigdha Halder (Sharma) was disposed of with the following observation/direction: "Since the petitioners have challenged the genuineness of the deeds of gift on the basis of which the amount of compensation was paid in favour of son and grandson of Lakshmikanta Halder by the Competent Authority, it was incumbent on the part of the Competent Authority to refer the dispute to the civil court. In view of my above findings, I am constrained to hold that the order passed by the Competent Authority on July 8, 2016 (Annexure P/10 to the writ application) is not justified under the law and as such the said order is set aside. The respondent no.4, the Competent Authority, is directed to refer the dispute in question to the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land in question is situated under Section 3H(4) of the National Highways Act, 1956 within a period of six weeks from the date of communication of the order.

Since the affidavits have not been exchanged between the parties, the allegations made in the writ petition are not deemed to have been admitted by the respondents. With the above direction, the writ application stands disposed of."

Now, the present appeal along with the application for stay has been taken out by the two appellants, namely Swadhin Halder and Sailen Halder, who were the private respondent nos.7 & 6 respectively in the writ proceeding.

Since the facts of the case have already been set out quite elaborately in the impugned judgment and order, in order to avoid prolixity, we are not reiterating the same. However, we take note of the relevant fact that the learned Single Judge while deciding the matter has taken into consideration the issue with regard to the genuineness of the deeds of gift - on the basis of which the amount of compensation was paid in favour of the son and grandson of Lakshmikanta Halder by the Competent Authority - was under challenge. As such, the learned Single Judge proceeded to direct the Competent Authority to refer the dispute-in-question to the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction taking into account the provision of section 3H(4) of the National Highways Act, 1956. For convenience, the said provision is set out hereinbelow: "If any dispute arises as to the apportionment of the amount or any part thereof or to any person to whom the same or any part thereof is payable, the competent authority shall refer the dispute to the decision of the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land is situated."

Even a bare perusal of the provision of law - as quoted above - reveals that the mandate of the statute casts an obligation upon the Competent Authority to refer any dispute that arises in respect of apportionment of the compensation amount or any part thereof or to any person to whom the same or any part thereof is payable, to the Principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land is situated, for a decision. The learned Single Judge - as it appears from the operative portion of the order quoted hereinbefore has done just that.

As such, in an Intra-Court Mandamus Appeal, no interference is warranted since no palpable infirmities or perversities are noticed.

However, we are of the view that till the competent Civil Court finally arrives at a decision, the amount due and payable by the Competent Authority as compensation, shall be kept deposited in a short-term renewable fixed deposit account to be opened in any nationalised bank by the Competent Authority, subject to order/orders that may be passed by the competent civil Court. We also make it clear that the learned civil Court shall decide the dispute - as referred by the Competent Authority - on its own merit without being influenced in any manner by any observation made by the learned Single Judge or by us.

The appeal and the application for stay stand disposed of accordingly. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the learned advocates for the parties.