C G GHANSHAMDAS Vs. COLLECTOR OF MADRAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short question which arises for consideration in this appeal is whether under the Tamil Nadu Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') the court-fee payable on a memorandum of appeal filed under section 11 of the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 (Act 30 of 1952) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Requisitioning Act') should be computed in accordance with section 51 of the Act or a fixed court-fee is payable under the residuary provision that is Article 3(iii)(A)(1)(a) of Schedule II to the Act.

(2.) The appellants claim to be the co-owners of the land and building bearing Door No. 745 E.V.R. Periyar High Road (Poonamallee High Road), Kilpauk, Madras. The land along with the building standing thereon was originally requisitioned under the provisions of the Requisitioning Act for the purpose of accommodating the NCC Headquarters through the Collector of Madras. The above property was taken possession of on 9-2-1963. In order to fix the compensation for the period of five years beginning from 9-6-1963 to 20-2-1967, an Arbitrator was appointed. The Arbitrator by his award dated 5-1-1970 fixed the compensation at Rs. 6,000/- per month and the compensation was being paid accordingly.

(3.) At this stage it is necessary to refer to the history of the Requisitioning Act. The power to requisition and to acquire immovable property for a public purpose was first provided in the Defence of India Act, 1939 which expired on the 30th September, 1946. It was, however, found necessary to retain some of the properties for a longer period in the occupation of the Government. Therefore, it was provided in the Requisitioned Land (Continuance of Powers) Act, 1947 that any property which had been requisitioned under the Defence of India Act, 1939, would continue to remain under requisition. Subsequently, the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 that is the Requisitionigng Act with which we are concerned in this case was passed in the year 1952 to confer powers on the Government in this regard. The Act was initially to operate for a period of six years but its duration was extended from time to time. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Act, 1970 made the Requisitioning Act a permanent measure but restricted the period for which a requisitioned property could be retained under requisition to three years from the commencement of the above said Amendment Act in the case of properties requisitioned before such commencement and in the case of any other property requisitioned after such commencement to three years from the date on which possession of such property was surrendered or delivered to or taken by the competent authority under section 4 of the Requisitioning Act. Thus properties requisitioned before the commencement of the said Amendment Act could be retained under requisition up to the 10th March, 1973. A large number of properties requisitioned under the Requisitioning Act could not be released by the said date and the maximum period for which properties could be kept under continued requisition was extended for a further period of two years by the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Act, 1973. A number of properties requisitioned under the Requisitioning Act were still in possession of the Ministry of Defence and also some other Ministries. Although the Government was expeditiously implementing the policy of acquiring or de-requisitioning the requisitioned properties, a large number of them were expected to be needed by the Government even after the 10th March, 1975 for public purposes. On many of the properties valuable constructions of a permanent nature connected with the national defence or the conduct of military operations or other important public purposes had been put up. Due to financial stringency, it was not possible either to acquire the properties or take up large scale construction programmes in the immediate future to enable the Government to release the requisitioned properties. It was, therefore, found necessary to keep the properties under the continued requisition for a longer period. Parliament, therefore, passed the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property (Amendment) Act, 1975 (Act II of 1975) by which it amended the Requisitioning Act so as to extend by five years the existing maximum period for which properties could be retained under requisition and to provide for quinquennial revision of the recurring part of compensation. The property in question by virtue of the several amendments made to the Requisitioning Act continued to remain under requisition and the compensation payable in respect of it was required to be revised as provided by the Requisitioning Act as amended by Act II of 1975 for a period of five years from 7-3-1975 to 6-3-1980. As there was no agreement between the parties on the question of compensation payable for the said period the said question was referred to the Principal Judge, City Civil Court, Madras who had been appointed as the arbitrator under section 8 of the Requisitioning Act to determine the compensation payable in respect of the property in question for the said period. The learned Arbitrator by his award dated August 31, 1984 fixed the compensation payable for the property at Rs. 21,000/- per month as against the claim of Rs. 77,270/- per month made by the appellants.