BHOOP SINGH Vs. DDA & ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) VILLAGE Nangal Dewat consisted of old abadi (Lal Dora) as well as extended abadi. Though revenue record had been prepared in relation to extended abadi area, no such record had been prepared for the old abadi (Lal Dora) area. A notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act proposing to acquire the aforesaid land was issued on 28th April, 1972, followed by a declaration under Section 6 of the said Act on 28th August, 1979. The award in respect of the notified lands was passed on 14th August, 1986, determining separate compensation for land, structures and trees. The award came to be challenged before this Court by way of W.P. (C) No. 481/1982, titled as Daryao Singh & Ors. versus Union of India & Ors.. An order was passed in the said writ petition on 2nd August, 2001 recording the submission of the appellant -Airport Authority of India that all the persons whose names appeared in the award would be allotted alternative land in terms of a Rehabilitation Scheme which would be framed within six months. In view of the said statement, the petitioners in W.P. (C) No. 481/1982 gave up challenge to the acquisition proceedings and the writ petition was disposed of accordingly. Review application No. 9312/2001 was filed by Harijan and Backward Jan Kalyan Samiti in the aforesaid writ petition. It was stated in the application that the Gram Sabha land allotted in the name of the communities was in possession and occupation of individual persons, who were entitled to allotment of individual alternative plots. During the course of hearing of the said application, the counsel representing Harijan and Backward Jan Kalyan Samiti pointed out the names of the persons forming part of the Samiti who had not been included in the consolidated list of 316 persons to whom the alternative land was sought to be allotted by the Nodal Officer. It was explained by the Nodal Officer that the allotment was made by Gram Sabha in respect of certain individuals who had been included in the list while in some other cases, the allotment was made to the community and not to individual persons and, therefore, it had not been possible to identify the individual persons since their names did not figure in the revenue record. The Court was of the view that in terms of the total land allotted, such community would also be entitled to allotment of plot as a group and how they divide the same between themselves was their own business. It was also stated by the counsel representing Airport Authority of India that the next exercise which had to be carried out was to find out as to which of the persons were entitled to which size of plot and being a short exercise, this court be done within two weeks. Thus, the prayer of the Samiti for allotment of separate or individual alternative plots to the persons who were in occupation of community land was rejected.

(2.) IN a meeting held in the chamber of Joint Secretary, (Civil Aviation) on 14.3.2007, it was decided to constitute a committee to look into the issue of allotment of alternative plots to the persons who were in possession of the land recorded in the name of communities. The Committee recommended that the residents of land recorded in the name of individuals may be considered for allotment of individual plots and for this purpose, the list of 122 persons prepared in the year 1958 could be the outer limit to examine the eligibility for allotment of alternative plots. The Committee recommended that in order to examine the entitlement for alternative plots, a fresh survey of the Khasras wherein plots were allotted to the community in the year 1958 should be conducted, to ascertain the area in possession of individual persons. The report of the Committee was accepted by the Government. The Committee decided that in order to be eligible for allotment of alternative plots, the persons whose names had been mentioned in the list of 122 persons should also be in possession of the community land at the time of inspection in June -July, 2007 and in case he had did in the meanwhile, his legal representatives should be in possession of the aforesaid land. It was also decided by the Committee that mere allotment in the year 1958 should not be the sole basis for allotment of alternative plot. Thus, as per the decision of the Committee, the persons who did not fulfill the twin requirement i.e. (i) inclusion of their names in the list of 1958 and (ii) possession of community land in June -July, 2007, should not be considered for allotment of alternative plot. A team of officials visited the Village between 29.6.2007 to 4.7.2007 and verified the claims of each and every person. The Team also measured land found in possession of the claimants at the time of verification.

(3.) DURING hearing of W.P. (C) No. 17778/2006, the counsel representing Airport Authority of India stated on 31.5.2007 that the report of the Committee constituted by the Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation to look into the issue of allotment of alternative plots in respect of the land recorded in the name of communities in Village Nangal Dewat had been accepted by the Ministry and the residents of the land recorded in the name of the communities would be considered for allotment of individual plots and such eligibility would be considered on the basis of list of 122 persons that was prepared in the course of 1958 Consolidation Proceedings and the said list would be the outer limit to examine the eligibility for alternative plots. He also stated that the eligibility would be considered on the basis of same criteria which had been followed for considering the eligibility of other persons for the rehabilitation scheme.