APPU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal is by the claimant in the lower court. He is the jenmi of 1 acre (according to him 1 acre and 39 cents) of garden land acquired by the respondent-State for the purpose of constructing a railway siding to the Gwalior rayons at West Hill in Kozhikode. The Sy. No. of the land acquired is T. S. No. 43 of Katcheri Village, Kozhikode Taluk. The Land Acquisition Officer fixed the land value at Rs. 220/- per cent and on an apportionment of the compensation payable in respect of the acquired land awarded Rs. 14,000/- to him. The claimant requested for reference to the civil court as provided for in Section 20 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1961, claiming land value at the rate of Rs. 1000/per cent. The lower court dismissed the reference on two grounds, viz. that the statement filed by the claimant in answer to notice under Section 9 (3) did not specify the amount of compensation claimed by him, and that even on merits the claimant failed to substantiate his claim for land value at Rs. 1000/- per cent.

(2.) UNDER Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 9 of the Kerala Land Acquisition act, 1961, the Collector has to cause public notice to be given at convenient place calling upon all persons interested in the land proposed to be acquired to state "the nature of their respective interests in the land, and the amount and particulars of their claims to compensation for such interests, and their objections, if any, to the measurements made under Section 8". Under Section 9 (3) of the aforesaid Act, the Collector has also to serve a notice to the same effect on the occupier, if any, of such land and on all such persons known or believed to be interested in the land proposed to be acquired or to be entitled to act for persons so interested. Another provision that has to be noticed is section 27. That section occurs in Part III of the Act relating to 'reference to court and procedure thereon'. Section 27 prescribes the upper limits of compensation that could be awarded by the court as also the lower limit. Under sub-section (1) of that section, when the applicant has made a claim to compensation pursuant to any notice given under Section 9, the amount awarded to him by the court shall not exceed the amount so claimed; that subsection also states that the amount awarded by the Court shall not be less than the amount awarded by the Collector as per his award under Section 11. Subsection (2) of that section states that when the applicant has refused to make such claim or has omitted without sufficient reason to make such claim, the amount awarded by the court shall not exceed the amount awarded by the collector. Sub-section (3) of Section 27 enables the court to award more than the amount awarded by the Collector, even in cases where the applicant has omitted to make a claim in answer to notice under Section 9, provided the court is satisfied that such omission was for sufficient reason.

(3.) THE provisions discussed above in our opinion, are clear enough and they require the claimant to specify the amount claimed as compensation in the statement given by him in answer to the notice under Section 9 of the Act. That in answer to the notice under Section 9 of the Act the claimant has to advance a claim for a specific amount by way of compensation is clear, and that is so in view of Section 27 (1) of the Act whereby the court is prohibited from awarding any amount in excess of 'the amount so claimed', that is to say, the amount claimed in answer to the notice under Section 9 of the Act. Unless a sum certain is claimed, or unless on the basis of the claim-statement, end that alone. i. e. , without the court embarking upon any enquiry, the sum certain, if any, claimed can be ascertained and quantified, it would not be possible for the court to restrict its award 'to the amount so claimed'.