MOTILAL MONDAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners have prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus to command the respondent authorities to compute the compensation amount of the petitioners land on the basis of the market value fixed by the Jurisdictional Sub-Registrar and as well as the West Bengal Central Valuation Board. The vires of several provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short the 1894 Act ) was also challenged and a declaration that such provisions are ultra vires, unconstitutional and void was also made.

(2.) However, in course of hearing of the writ petition, Mrs. Maity did not press the issue insofar as the challenge to the provisions of the 1894 Act is concerned but restricted her submission only to the extent that the acquisition proceeding stood vitiated for not passing the award within the statutory period of two years and also that the acquisition proceeding was not concluded due to not taking over physical possession of the property in question. Though the writ petition was originally filed by 77 writ petitioners and upon the death of some of the writ petitioners their heirs were substituted but Mrs. Maity in course of hearing only canvassed the case of the petitioner no. 1 and 2.

(3.) Since the issue relating to vires of certain provisions of the 1894 Act was not pressed at the time of hearing, the prayer for declaration that such provisions are ultra vires is, therefore, dismissed as not pressed. Thus, the only issue that remains to be considered is whether the petitioners are entitled to other reliefs claimed in the writ petition.