BASHIR AHMAD MIR Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners claim that their proprietary lands situated at Beerwah tehsil and district Budgam along with walnut trees grown thereon, were acquired by the Department of Higher Education through Collector Land Acquisition, Budgam.

(2.) Notice under sec. 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act Samvat 1990 was issued in the year 2004, which was followed by issuance of a notification under sec. 6 of the Act declaring that the land was needed for the public purpose. The mode of private negotiations was adopted to work out the compensation in which besides the respondents, all the stakeholders participated. The rates fixed for the land per kanal on the basis of negotiations conducted by Private Negotiation Committee (PNC) was accepted by all the interested persons including the petitioners, Regular Cause list and, accordingly the requisite amount was disbursed to each of the interested persons.

(3.) The petitioners too accepted the compensation. They even executed formal sale deeds transferring their landed property in favour of the respondents for construction of a Degree College in the month of April 2006. It is only in the year 2015 that they woke up from the slumber and filed the instant petition challenging the rate of land determined by the PNC on the ground that the petitioners had not been heard by the PNC and, therefore, any negotiations taken place between the respondents and the interested persons before the PNC were not binding on them.