BHANU PRATAP SINGH Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the respondents to make payment of compensation along with appropriate interest to the petitioners for 32.58 acres of their land which were acquired in the year 1983 for the purpose of Kutku Reservoir Scheme under North Koyal Project in Palamau District (presently in Garhwa District). Some related prayers have also been made such as: issuance of displacement cards as well as inclusion of the petitioners' names in the list of displaced persons of the villages prepared in the Census Survey under submergence of North Koyal (Mandal Dam) Project, Jharkhand for the purpose of granting package of Rs.15,00,000/- to the displaced families as well as the other benefits under the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policies of the years 2008 and 2012 issued by the State of Jharkhand.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners as well as their ancestors were under rightful title and possession of about 189.63 acres of land situated at Village-Kutku, P.S-Bhandariya / P.S. No.219, District-Palamau (presently District-Garhwa) which were acquired by the State Government for the purpose of Kutku Reservoir Scheme under North Koyal Project in Palamau District (presently in Garhwa District). The grievance of the petitioners is that they have been paid compensation only for 157.05 acres of land, but compensation for rest 32.58 acres of land has not been paid. The benefits under the rehabilitation and resettlement policies issued by the Government of Jharkhand in the year 2008 as well as in the year 2012 have also not been provided to them whereas the displaced persons under the Batane Reservoir Project have been extended the benefits of the said policies. Further grievance of the petitioners is that despite thorough census survey conducted in this regard, the names of the petitioners were not included in the list of the displaced persons under the North Koyal Project.

(3.) A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent No.10 stating inter alia that the land of the petitioners' ancestors i.e. Late Rana Krishna Deo Narayan Singh and others were acquired through Land Acquisition Case Nos. 3/1973-74, 4/1973-74, 5/1978-79, 10/1073-74, 10/1978-79 and 6/1973-74 and the compensation for acquisition of their land has already been paid to them. It has also ben stated that the petitioners have not specifically disclosed the description of the land for which they are claiming compensation. As per the record, due compensation has already been paid to the petitioners' ancestors, except those part of the land which are 'Gair Mazurwa' in nature as the petitioners' ancestors were required to submit the certificate of Raiyati status issued by the competent authority in that regard. They have also been granted rehabilitation benefits as per the prevailing rehabilitation policy at the time of acquisition of the said land. The land acquisition process for Kutku Reservoir Scheme under North Koyal Project were already completed in 1980s itself and as such there is no question of applicability of the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. It has also been stated in the counter affidavit that the construction work of Kutku Reservoir Scheme under North Koyal Project is continuing, though its progress is slow, and hence there is no question of returning the said land in favour of the petitioners treating the same to be unused land. It has however been stated in the counter affidavit that the representation dated 22.07.2006 (Anneuxre-6 to the writ petition) claimed to have been filed by the petitioners before the respondent No.5 is not available in the office of the respondent No.10.