YUDHVIR SINGH Vs. LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner seeks to raise a legal plea that he is entitled to maintain an application for enhanced compensation under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 ("the said Act? for short) even though filed admittedly beyond three (3) months of the date of the award on the ground that it was filed within three months of the date of the knowledge of the award. In substance the plea is that it is the date of knowledge of the Petitioner which is material for purposes of filing an application under Section 28A of the said Act to claim parity in respect of compensation qua persons who had sought and obtained enhanced compensation.

(2.) The factual matrix is limited. The Petitioner was owner of the land in question, which was situated in Village Dhaka. The land was sought to be acquired by issuance of a notification Under Section 4 of the said Act on 13.11.1959, which was followed by a declaration dated 22.11.1962 issued under Section 6 of the said Act. An award No. 1557, in this regard, was passed on 30.03.1963. The Petitioner never preferred a reference for enhancement of compensation. Other aggrieved land owners from the same village and in respect of the same award, sought a reference. These persons are stated to have succeeded ultimately in a decision rendered by this Court in RFA No. 23/1970 vide order dated 24.04.1987. This fact is stated not to be within the knowledge of the Petitioner till 26.06.2008, when he applied for a certified copy and obtained the same on 04.07.2008. The Petitioner thereafter filed applications under Section 28A of the said Act on 10.07.2008 and 12.08.2008. The aforesaid applications were not entertained. The last communication in this behalf (which is the impugned communication) is dated 13.01.2010. The impugned communication/order reads as under:

(3.) The Petitioner being aggrieved has filed the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.