MCA/958/2008 6/ 6 ORDER IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION No. 958 of 2008 In FIRST APPEAL No. 522 of 2000 To MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION No. 980 of 2008 In FIRST APPEAL No. 544 of 2000 with CIVIL APPLICATION No. 3102 of 2008 To CIVIL APPLICATION No. 3124 of 2008 with CIVIL APPLICATION No. 7664 of 2008 To CIVIL APPLICATION No. 7672 of 2008 in MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION Nos. 960 of 2008 in FIRST APPEAL No. 524 of 2000 =========================================================
O
N G C LTD. – Applicant(s)
Versus
SPEICIAL
LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER & 1 – Opponent(s)
=========================================================
Appearance
: [Misc Civil Applns. No. 958/2008 to 980/2008]
MR
RR MARSHALL for
Applicant
MR AJ DESAI AGP & Ms. MINI NAIR, AGP for Opponent(s)
: 1
MR PRAKASH K JANI & Mr. AV PRAJAPATI for Opponent : 2,
Appearance
: [Civil Applns. No. 3102/2008 to 3124/2008]
MR
RR MARSHALL
for Applicant
MR AJ DESAI AGP & Ms. MINI NAIR,
AGP for Opponent(s) : 1
MR PRAKASH K JANI & Mr. AV PRAJAPATI
for Opponent(s) : 2,
Appearance
: [Civil Applns. No. 7664/2008 to 7672/2008]
MR
AV PRAJAPATI for Applicant
MR RR MARSHAL for Opponent(s) : 1
MR
AJ DESAI AGP for Opponent(s) :
2
=========================================================
CORAM
:
HONOURABLE
MS. JUSTICE R.M.DOSHIT
and
HONOURABLE
MR.JUSTICE SHARAD D. DAVE 17th July, 2008
ORAL
COMMON ORDER (Per :
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE R.M.DOSHIT)
These
Applications for review have been made by the appellant-Oil &
Natural Gas Corporation Limited [hereinafter referred to as, ýSthe
Corporationýý] against the common judgment and order dated
22nd December, 2003 passed by this Court [Coram
: N.G Nandi & D.P Buch, JJ.} in above First Appeals
No. 522 of 2000 to 544 of 2000 & First Appeal No. 358 of 2001. By
the judgment under review, this Court has allowed Appeals preferred
by the Corporation to the extent that the compensation awarded by the
Reference Court for the acquired lands has been reduced to Rs. 54/=
per sq.m. This judgment was carried in appeal before the Hon’ble
Supreme Court. In Special Leave to Appeal [Civil] No. 8132 of 2004
and other applications, the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 15th
October, 2007, made Order as under :-
ýSWe
are of the view that ends of justice would be met if the petitioner
herein moves the High Court by way of review because, in our view,
there is an apparent mistake on the face of the record as far as the
notifications are concerned. Subject to above, the Special Leave
petitions are disposed of.ýý
Pursuant
to the above order, the Corporation has taken out present
applications for review of the above referred judgment dated 22nd
December, 2003.
At the outset, learned
advocates Mr. Jani and Mr. Prajapati have questioned maintainability
of the present Applications. They have submitted that the relief
granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in favour of the
Corporation was in respect of the lands of village-Palvasna, situated
near village-Heduva Hanumatapura. The lands of village Palvasna were
acquired by Notification issued on 27th May, 1982,
therefore, the compensation awarded in respect of the said lands
cannot apply mutatis mutandis in respect of the lands which
are the subject matter of the present proceeding.
Mr. Marshal has submitted
that the acquisition proceedings in question were initiated by
issuance of Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act
on 10th October, 1985. After following the required
procedure, declaration made under Section 6 of the Act was published
in the Official Gazette on 31st July, 1986. By the said
Notification, several pieces of land of village Heduva Hanumantpura,
District Mehsana have been acquired. The awards for compensation were
made by the land acquisition officer on 7th October,
1988. The claimants, however, sought reference. Two of the said
references No. 1742 of 1992 & 2578 of 1993 were decided by the
learned Assistant Judge, Mehsana by a common judgment and order dated
3rd September, 1997. The learned Assistant Judge was
pleased to raise compensation to Rs. 50 per sq.m. The said award was
challenged before this Court by the Corporation in First Appeals No.
456 of 1998 & No. 459 of 1998. Both the said appeals were
dismissed on 24th June, 1998 [Coram
: Y.B Bhatt & R.P Dholakia, JJ.]. After a round of
litigation, Misc. Civil Applications No. 323 of 2002 and 324 of 2002
taken out by the Corporation also came to be rejected. The said
judgment was then challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court
in Civil Appeal Nos. 552 & 553 of 2003. The Hon’ble
Supreme Court, by its Order dated 24th January, 2003
allowed the said Appeals and reduced the amount of compensation for
agricultural land from Rs. 50/= per sq.m to Rs. 38/= per sq.m. Mr.
Marshal has submitted that the said order made by the Hon’ble
Supreme Court was in respect of the lands identically situated as the
lands which are the subject matter in the present proceeding. The
Hon’ble Division Bench of this Court, therefore, ought to have
reduced the compensation for agricultural lands to Rs. 38/= per sq.m.
However, the learned Judges have erred in not following the binding
order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and instead, has awarded
compensation @ Rs. 54/= per sq.m., after elaborate process of
determination of the market price of the lands.
The aforesaid facts are
gathered from the materials on record and are not in dispute. We do
agree with Mr. Marshal that these facts call for a review.
For
the aforesaid reasons, these Applications are allowed. The judgment
and award dated 22nd December, 2003 passed by this Court
[Coram
: N.G Nandi & D.P Buch, JJ.] in First Appeals No.
522 of 2000 to 544 of 2000 and First Appeal No. 358 of 2001 is
recalled. The Appeals are restored.
This
order is made on condition that the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
Limited pays the amount of compensation to the concerned claimants @
Rs. 38/= per sq.m. Mr. Marshal has submitted that the
applicant-Corporation has already deposited the amount of
compensation calculated @ Rs. 38/= per sq.m. alongwith cost and
interest.
It
is observed that the concerned applicants will be at liberty to
withdraw the amount of compensation deposited in the Reference Court.
In
view of the above directions, Civil Applications No.3102 of 2008 to
3124 of 2008 and Civil
Applications No. 7664 of 2008 to 7672 of 2008 are disposed of. The
parties will bear their own cost.
Appeals
be posted for final hearing after receipt of record and proceedings.
{Miss
R.M Doshit, J.}
{Sharad
D. Dave, J.}
Prakash*