MANGALDAS GIRDHARDAS Vs. ASSISTANT COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred to this Court on a stamp of Rs. 2. It is an appeal under the Land Acquisition Act: and a preliminary objection is raised on behalf of the respondent that ad valorem Court-fee in respect of the additional compensation claimed in this appeal is payable by the appellant under the provisions of Section 8 of the Court Fees Act. By way of reply it is contended that the appeal really relates to the question of apportionment of the amount of compensation between the Government and the present claimant, and that the fee already paid is appropriate as it has been held by this Court that the Court fee of Rs. 2 is payable in respect of appeals relating to apportionment.

(2.) After a careful consideration of the arguments on both sides, it seems to me that the substantial question in this appeal is whether the claimant is entitled to such compensation as is awarded by the lower Court or to the higher compensation which he claims in respect of the property acquired. No precedent has been cited in which the Government claiming any interest in the land acquired is treated as a claimant for the purposes of Court fees. The cases cited by Mr. Weldon are cases in which several private claimants other than the Government put forward their claims to the compensation in respect of the property acquired and in which the dispute was confined to the private claimants inter se.

(3.) I do not think that Mr. Weldon s contention is Supported either by the provisions or by the scheme of the Land Acquisition Act. The compensation under the Act is claimable from the Government, and the so-called apportionment between the Government and the claimant of the total compensation payable in respect of the property is in sub-stance the same thing as the determination of the amount payable by the Government to the claimant under the circumstances of the particular case.