Leading judgment on Land acquisition

Keeping in view the entire scheme of the Land Acquisition Act and the ratio of the decisions of the Apex Court in the cases of R.L. Jain and Lila Ghosh, cited supra, the position of law can be summarized as under :

(i) If the possession of the land under acquisition is taken under Section 16 of the said Act i.e. after an award is made by the Collector under Section 11 therein, the interest would be payable under Section 34 from the date of passing of the award and we are in agreement with such a view expressed by the Division Bench of this Court (S/Shri N.V.. Dabholkar and M.G. Gaikwad, JJ.) in the case of State of Maharashtra & anr. v. Rajendra Narayanrao Gaikwad, reported in MANU/MH/1296/2007: 2008 (1) BCR 839.

(ii) The interest as provided under Section 34 of the said Act shall start running from the date of possession, only if the possession is taken by the Collector in exercise of his powers under Section 17 of the said Act which would obviously be after issuance of notice under Section 9(1) of the said Act. If the possession is taken under Section 17, the interest payable under Section 34 of the said Act shall start running from the date of possession and not from the date of award.

(iii) Where the possession of the land under acquisition is taken prior to issuance of notification under Section 4(1), then there would be no question of invoking the urgency clause under Section 17 of the said Act and the interest under Section 34 shall start running from the date of passing of the award.

(iv) The starting point for the purposes of calculating the amount of additional component under Section 23(1-A) of the said Act at the rate of twelve per centum per annum is the date of publication of the notification under Section 4 of the said Act, and the terminal point is either the date of the award or the date of taking possession, whichever is earlier.

(v) We hold that in none of the eventualities, the claimant shall be entitled to interest under Section 34 of the said Act from the date of publication of the notification under Section 4(1) of the said Act.

(vi) There is no overlapping of the benefits under Section 23(1-A) and Section 34 of the said Act. The terminal points under Section 23(1-A) are the starting points under Section 34 of the said Act and both the provisions operate in different fields.

(vii) We express our full agreement with the view taken by the Division Bench of this Court in Lalitkumar Shah's case, cited supra, that in a case where possession is taken prior to issuance of notification under Section 4(1) of the said Act, the interest under Section 34 shall start running from the date of award only.

(viii) We also express our full agreement with the view taken by the Division Bench of this Court in Lalitkumar Shah's case, cited supra, that the decision of the Division Bench in the case of Jafarali Mithabhai Hirani & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., reported in 2009 (3) All MR 779, and the similar view taken in other matters is no longer a good law.

33. In view of above, we answer the question of reference as under :

(a) If the possession is taken before the notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act is published and/or before the award is passed, the land-owner would be entitled for interest as per Section 34 necessarily from the date of passing of the award under Section 11 of the said Act, except in cases where the possession is taken in accordance with Section 17 of the said Act, and in that situation only, the provision of Section 34 of the said Act shall start operating from the date of possession.

(b) We also hold that the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Lalitkumar Himmatlal Shah v. State of Maharashtra and others, decided by Smt. Vasanti A. Naik and Shri Prasanna B. Varale, JJ., and reported in MANU/MH/0733/2012 : 2012(4) Mh.L.J. 742, lays down a correct position of law and it does not require reconsideration.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY (NAGPUR BENCH)

First Appeal No. 251 of 2003

Decided On: 18.04.2016

 State of Maharashtra Vs. Kailash Shiva Rangari

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

B.P. Dharmadhikari, R.K. Deshpande and P.N. Deshmukh, JJ.

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