DHANAVANTHAN Vs. GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner owns a piece of land measuring an extent of 4.57.5 hectares in Survey No. 36/1A Vedal Village, Cheyyur Taluk, Kancheepuram District and this was acquired under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997 [T.N.Act 10 of 1999] (hereinafter referred as "Industrial Purposes Act" in brevity). The petitioner contends that he was invited for fixing the compensation under Section 7(2) of the said Act based on a negotiated agreement, and was offered Rs. 6,500/- per cent, but the petitioner was not agreeable to this offer. Ideally, Collector should have determined the compensation under Section 7(3) of the Act. Instead, the Land Acquisition Authorities has imposed its own value that it offered to the petitioner under Section 7(2) of the Act, as the compensation amount payable and the third respondent passed the impugned Award No. 36 of 2015 dated 23.10.2015. Hence, the petitioner has come forward with this petition to quash the same. It is also alleged that the petitioner has challenged the Constitutionality of Sect.105-A brought in by the Tamil Nadu amendment to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter would be referred to as Right to Fair Compensation Act) and has filed W.P. No. 29799 of 2013.

(2.) In the counter affidavit, it is inter alia indicated that where the compensation amount is not agreed to, resort would be made under Section 7(3) of the Act.

(3.) Heard Mr. AR.L. Sundaresan, learned Senior Counsel, instructed by Mr. AR.Karthik Lakshmanan, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the statute is clear and straight forward when it pointedly declared that where an agreement could not be arrived on the compensation payable under Section 7(2) of the Act, resort should necessarily have to be made to Section 7(3) of the Act. And given the fact that Right to Compensation Act has come into force, any process of procedure by which an award is passed under Section 7(3) of the Industrial Purposes Act should not ignore the beneficial provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation Act.