KARAM CHAND Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SHORT question which arises for consideration in the present petition is as to whether application filed under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), beyond the stipulated period of three months of limitation, commencing from the date of pronouncement of the award by the District Judge, under Section 18 of the Act, is maintainable or not.

(2.) FACTS are not much in dispute. Claimants' land stood acquired for a public purpose, vide Award No. 46, dated 19.3.2004, passed by the Land Acquisition Collector, H.P.P.W.D., Central Zone, Mandi. Undisputedly, appellants herein did not seek any redetermination of compensation, under the provisions of Section 18 of the Act, though some of the land owners covered by the very same acquisition proceedings filed such petitions, which stood adjudicated and decided on 31.8.2007 by the Additional District Judge (Fast Track Court), Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, vide award in Land Reference No. 10 of 2005/RBT 20 of 2005, titled as Bararu Ram and others v. Land Acquisition Collector and another, and other connected matters. In the instant case, the same is annexed as Annexure P -2.

(3.) AFTER the decision of the case in Surinder Kumar (supra), present claimants/appellants filed a petition, under the provisions of Section 28A of the Act, seeking re -determination of the amount of compensation, with respect to the very same acquisition proceedings. The same stands rejected by the Land Acquisition Collector, vide its decision dated 26.11.2012, passed in Petition No. 7/09, titled as Karam Chand v. State of H.P. and another.