MUKHTIAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An award respecting the land acquired for the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was announced by the Collector on March 28, 1972. The petitioner who was not present at the time of the announcement of the award, filed an application for reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on June 1, 1972 which was rejected by the Collector vide order dated May 4, 1973 on the ground that the petitioner had received the payment of the compensation without protest. Aggrieved by that order, the landowner has filed this revision petition.

(2.) The validity of the impugned order has been challenged on the ground that the petitioner had accepted the payment on July 27, 1972 long after the filing of the application for making a reference under Section 18 of the Act in which he had categorically stated that the compensation assessed was not acceptable to him. Further the argument is that the petitioner having already lodged his protest against the compensation assessed it was not necessary for him to do it again while receiving the compensation amount. In support of his contention the learned counsel has relied on The Collector Jabalpur and another V. Kamal Kumar Jain and others, 1973 AIR(MP) 288wherein relying on Tara Chand V. The Land Acquisition Collector, 1971 AIR(Del) 116and Shantabai V. Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition, 1971 AIR(AP) 117, it was held that where a landholder has already filed his application for reference of his claim before the date of withdrawal of the compensation amount, the receiving of the amount subsequently would be deemed to be under protest, even though he may not have mentioned the words 'under protest' in his application for withdrawal of the amount, if any such application was to be at all made, or in the receipt granted showing that the amount had been received and accepted. A discordant note was struck by B.N. Banerjee, J. in Suresh Chandra Roy V. The Land Acquisition Collector Chinsurah, 1964 AIR(Cal) 283in the following words :-

(3.) Consequently, this petition is allowed, the impugned order quashed and the case sent back to the Collector for making a reference under Section 18 of the Act. As the State has not come forward to oppose this petition, the petitioner is left to bear his own costs. Petition accepted.