UMRAO SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition raise's a short but important question of law. It is this : whether a person, whose property has been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, is entitled to interest under section 28 of the Act on the amount of compensation awarded to him from the date of the dispossession, in case the authorities have taken only symbolic possession and not actual physical possession of the property from him.

(2.) The material facts of the case lie in a small compass. Some land including two fields in dispute were acquired by the Collector under the Land Acquisition Act, I of 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The Collector determined the compensation payable for the land including the two fields in dispute. On a reference made under section 18 of the Act, compensation of the land was enhanced from Rs. 800.00 per bigha to Rs. 4250.00 per bigha and interest was awarded according to law. This was also payable in respect of the aforesaid two field's. Consequent upon the enhancement, the Collector remitted the requisite amount to the court which paid it to the claimant petitioner. The petitioner, however, complained that the interest in respect of the aforesaid two fields on the amount of compensation awarded by the court had not been deposited and he applied to the District Court for calculation of the interest and requested the payment of the balance amount. Notice of the application was issued to the Union of India, which contended in reply that interest on the enhanced compensation in respect of the two fields in dispute could not be allowed, since the Government had not taken physical possession of the said fields. On the trial of the application, the facts established on the record are that the Naib Tehsildar took symbolic possession of the two fields in dispute on 15th June, 1963 and then on 13th August, 1964 by a notification issued under sub-section (1) of section 22 of the Delhi Development Act, 1957, the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, by virtue of the powers of the Central Government vesting in him for the purpose, placed the land including the two fields in dispute, which had vested in the Central Government, at the disposal of the Delhi Development Authority for the purpose of development in accordance with the terms of the said Act. The Naib Tehsildar, who was examined as RW 1, deposed from the record that symbolic possession of the two fields in dispute, namely, Khasra No. 5/15 measuring 3 bighas 11 biswas and Khasra No. 5/16/1 measuring 5 biswas, had also been taken and that physical possession of the same had not been taken by the Naib Tehsildar and he had passed on the Symbolic possession to the Tehsildar, Land and Building, on the same day. The court below accepted the above statement of the Naib Tehsildar and held that actual possession of the aforesaid two fields had not been taken over by the Union of India and as such the petitioner was not entitled to the interest claimed and the application was dismissed by the impugned order. The petitioner, feeling aggrieved, has come up to this court in revision.

(3.) The scheme of the Land Acquisition Act is that under section 4 a notification is issued indicating that the specific land is needed or is likely to be needed for a public purpose. Thereupon, it is lawful for the officer of the Government to enter upon and survey and to take other steps for the purpose. Under section 5A, the interested parties arc, after the notification under section 4, entitled to file objections against the acquisition. After considering the said objections, a decision is taken by the appropriate Government under section 5, a declaration is issued to the effect that the specified land is needed for a public purpose and this declaration is conclusive of the fact that the land is needed for the public purpose or for a company, as the case may be and after making such declaration, the appropriate Government may acquire the land in the manner provided by the Act. Thereafter, the Government directs the Collector to take order for acquisition of the land. The Collector then takes steps to measure and mark and prepare plan of the land and then issues a public notice under section 9 inviting persons interested to claim compensation. The Collector enquires into the claims under section 11 of the Act and then determines the questions relating to the area of the land, apportionment of the compensation and the award made under section II is published in accordance with section 12. Section 16 of the Act, which is material, reads as follows :