STATE OF BIHAR Vs. BANARSI DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals by the State of Bihar are against the awards of the Land Acquisition Judge on references under Section 30 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). First Appeal No. 306 of 1963 arises out of Reference Case No. 124 of 1961 and First Appeal No. 307 of 1963 out of Reference Case No. 37 of 1960. The sole respondent of First Appeal No. 306 of 1963 died during the pendency of the appeal in this Court and his heirs have been substituted in his place.

(2.) Plot No. 583/3 of Khata No. 45 of village Bishunpur in the district of Dhan-bad along with other plots of the same village was acquired by the appellant for construction of an engineering school which later on came to be known as Dhanbad Polytechnic. The notification under Section 4 of the Act was made on 18th of November, 1957 and published in the State Gazette on 18th of December, 1957. The declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued on 8th of September, 1958 and published in the State Gazette on 1st of October, 1958. Possession was taken on 30th of October, 1958. Sriniwas Ganeriwalla, the original sole respondent of First Appeal No. 306 of 1963, claimed before the Collector that he was entitled to the entire compensation of the said plot. Respondents 1 to 3 of First Appeal No. 307 of 1963 also claimed that they were entitled to the entire compensation for the said plot. On the other hand, the case of the State was that neither of these two claimants was entitled to the compensation for the plot as the plot, on the vesting of the Jharia Raj under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, had vested in the State. The Collector held that Sriniwas Ganeriwalla was entitled to entire compensation. Two applications were filed before him, one by respondents 1 to 3 of First Appeal No. 307 of 1963 and another by the appellant for reference of the matter to the civil Court. He made references on both these applications. The reference on the application of respondents 1 to 3 of First Appeal No. 307 of 1963 was numbered in the court below as case No. 37 of 1960 and the reference on the application of the appellant was numbered as case No. 124 of 1961. The court below has held that neither Sriniwas Ganeriwalla, nor the appellant, was entitled to compensation. In its opinion, respondents 1 to 3 of First Appeal No. 307 of 1963 were entitled to the compensation. It may be stated that an appeal was also filed by Sriniwas Ganeriwalla but that stands dismissed for non-prosecution.

(3.) The case of Sriniwas Ganeriwalla was that he took portions of plot No. 583, i.e., portion other than plot No. 583/3, from the Jharia Raj along with some other lands by a registered deed of the year 1944 and at that time this land was in possession of Himalayan Engineering Company which had a brick-kiln thereon. The company gave up possession of the land in the year 1945 and thereupon Sriniwas Ganeriwalla took possession thereof as a trespasser, erected boundary wall around this land as well as the remaining portion of plot No. 583 which had been settled with him and converted part of it into paddy land. Thus, he claimed to have acquired title over this plot, i.e., 583, by adverse possession before the acquisition. The case of respondents 1 to 3 of first Appeal No. 307 of 1963 was that Navin Gope, father of respondent No. 1, Ramoo Gope, took settlement of this plot from the Receiver of the Jharia Raj in the year 1928 by registered patta. He remained in possession of this land till his death and after his death, the aforesaid respondents came in possession thereof and remained in possession till the date of taking over possession by the State. The case of the appellant was that the settlement with Navin Gope was only for a period of five years on the understanding that the land would be converted into paddy land. Navin Gope failed to convert the land into paddy land. Therefore, the land reverted to Jharia Raj. Thereafter it remained ip possession of the Raj as Parti land until the estate vested in the State under the Land Reforms Act in 1951.