BHAGWAN DASS Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Civil Revision as well as Civil Revision Nos. 1725 and 1726 of 1980 shall be disposed of by this order as these involve the same controversy and are directed against the order of the Land Acquisition Collector, dismissing the application of the landowners for making reference under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (herein after called the Act), to the court of the District Judge, Ambala Cantt.

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts are that some land blonging to the petitioners located in the area of village Rohat was acquired by the State of Haryana for public purposes at public expense, i.e. for setting up a Fish Seed Farm. The Land Acquisition Collector awarded some compensation for the acquired land to the petitioners vide his award dated 30th December, 1975. Being aggrieved against the adequacy of compensation of their land, all these petitioners' sought references under Section 18 of he Act by moving applications, dated 5th February, 1976 and 21st January 1976. The Land Acquisition Collector vide impugned order dated 31st March, 1980, refused to make references under Section 18 of the Act to the District Judge, by holding that the acceptance of the compensation without protest barred them from claiming such references under the provisions of Section 31(2) of the Act. Being aggrieved against the said over, all the three petitioners have knocked the door of this Court on revisional side.

(3.) Mr. R.P. Dahiya, learned counsel for the petitioner, by placing reliance on a Full Bench of this Court in Sher Singh v. Union of India,1963 AIR(P&H) 107. contended that the filing of application for making reference amounted to a protest and the factum that no such protest was lodged while accepting compensation is of no consequence. Mrs. Abha Rathore, learned counsel for the State of Haryana, on the other hand, maintained that the ratio of the aboe referred Sher Singh's case is not applicable to the facts of the case in hand, as the compensation was accepted by the petitioners without protest on 30th December, 1975, while the applications for making reference under Section 18 of the Act were filed later on. In support of her contentions, she has placed reliance on the finding of a Full Bench of this Court in The State of Punjab v. Smt. Harcharan Kaur, 1975 AIR(P&H) 66, as well as on the finding of this Court in Sardara Singh and another v. State of Punjab, 1970 CurLJ(Civ&Cri) 68and Jaswant Singh v. State of Punjab, 1972 AIR(P&H) 31.