GOVAJI VIRSANGJI THAKOR Vs. PROJECT MANAGER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Mr. R.R.Tripathi, learned Counsel waives service of notice of rule on behalf of respondent no.1. Mr. H.L.Jani, learned A.G.P. waives service of notice of rule on behalf of respondent no.2. At the joint request of learned Counsel appearing for the parties, the petition is taken-up for final hearing today.

(2.) The petitioner was owner of Block No.8 situated in the sim of village Memadpur, Taluka & District : Mehsana. The respondent no.1 had proposed on April 15, 1985 to acquire the land belonging to the petitioner temporarily for a period of one year for exploration of oil at Drill Site No.NKFR. On scrutiny of the said proposal, State Government was satisfied that the land belonging to the petitioner was needed for exploration of oil. Under the circumstances, possession of the land in question was taken on 4/09/1985 in pursuance of negotiations which had taken place between the officers of O.N.G.C. and the petitioner. Thereafter Special Land Acquisition Officer had made award for compensation on December 2, 1985 and awarded compensation to the petitioner on rental basis at the rate of Rs. 32.00 per Are. The Land Acquisition Officer had also awarded compensation for standing crop. According to the petitioner, compensation awarded by the Special Land Acquisition Officer was inadequate and, therefore, by making application he required Special Land Acquisition Officer to refer the matter to the District Court for determination of compensation. Accordingly, reference was made to the District Court, Mehsana which was numbered as Land Acquisition Reference No. 584/88. In reference application, the petitioner had claimed that having regard to fertility of the land acquired temporarily as well as market value of the lands situated nearby, he was entitled to compensation at the rate of Rs. 200.00 per Are. The learned 2nd Joint District Judge, Mehsana, who heard the reference, passed award on 2/07/1994 and granted compensation to the petitioner at the rate of Rs. 120.00 per Are. The Court also directed the acquiring body to pay additional amount of compensation with running interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of application till realisation. According to the petitioner, though the land was temporarily acquired for a period of one year, in fact, temporary acquisition had continued for a long period i.e. upto 24/06/1997 and, therefore, he was entitled to additional compensation from the date of taking over possession of the land till the date the temporary acquisition was in force. Therefore, the petitioner filed Review Application No. 149/95 in Land Acquisition Reference No. 584/88 and prayed the Court to review its earlier order and grant appropriate relief to the petitioner. The review application has been rejected by the learned Judge vide order dated 23/03/1998, giving rise to present petition. The order passed in review application is produced by the petitioner at Annexure-A to the petition.

(3.) The petitioner has claimed in the petition that when the rental compensation was granted at enhanced rate,the same would relate back to the date of taking over possession of the land in question and, therefore, the impugned order deserves to be set aside. It is mentioned in the petition that the learned Judge was not justified in rejecting the review application on the ground that the petitioner was paid additional compensation as per judgment of the Reference Court and, therefore, the review application was not maintainable. Under the circumstances, the petitioner has filed present petition and claimed reliefs to which reference is made earlier.