CHANDER MAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In a petition moved by the petitioners under Article 226 of the Constitution of India invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court and praying for issuance of an appropriate writ, order or direction to the respondents for payment of statutory interest on the awarded compensation under Section 34 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), on behalf of the respondent Delhi Development Authority (for short 'DDA') a legal question has been raised with regard to the applicability of Section 34 of the Act to the present case. It is argued that the claimants are not entitled to claim any interest under the provisions of Section 34 of the Act as the possession of the land had not been taken by the Collector or the DDA, prior to making of the award. With some vehemence it is further submitted that there is no specific or general obligation on the part of the Collector to deposit the compensation in court. The non-payment or non-deposit of compensation by itself is not a sufficient ground for applicability of provisions of Section 34 of the Act. It is also contended that provisions of Section 34 of the Act would be applicable only to the cases where the possession was taken before making of the award by the Collector. While placing reliance upon a judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Sh. Rattan Singh vs. Union of India 1991 (21) DRJ 113 it is also argued that in the present writ petition the court would not pass direction for payment of any interest in terms of Section 34 of the Act.

(2.) According to the stand taken by the Collector, interest under the provisions of Section 34 of the Act could not be disbursed to the claimants as the same was not received from the DDA despite requests. Thus, we are called upon to examine the applicability and scope of the provisions of Section 34 in relation to the scheme of acquisition, under the provisions of the Act. Section 34 of the Act reads as under:-

(3.) The language of the above provision do not admit any ambiguity. The effective part of this Section can be dissected into following parts:-