Vijay Cotton And Oil Mills (P) Ltd vs State Of Gujarat on 6 December, 1990

           PETITIONER:
VIJAY COTTON AND OIL MILLS (P) LTD.

	Vs.

RESPONDENT:
STATE OF GUJARAT

DATE OF JUDGMENT06/12/1990

BENCH:
KULDIP SINGH (J)
BENCH:
KULDIP SINGH (J)
KASLIWAL, N.M. (J)

CITATION:
 1991 AIR  656		  1990 SCR  Supl. (3) 447
 1991 SCC  (1) 262	  JT 1990 (4)	771
 1990 SCALE  (2)1194


ACT:
    Land Acquisition Act, 1894	Section 6(1), 23 & 26--Costs
and interest can be awarded by higher courts if not  awarded
by lower court.



HEADNOTE:
    The	 appellant  owned  land in Kutch  District  and	 the
Government  of	Gujarat took its possession  on	 a  specific
understanding that in exchange the Government would give  to
it land of equal value but the Government resided and issued
a  notification under section 6(1) of the  Land	 Acquisition
Act,  1894 straightaway declaring that the land in  question
was  needed  for  public  purpose.  The	 collector   awarded
Rs.5,075/44  np	 as  compensation. At the  instance  of	 the
appellant,  a reference to the Court was made under  Section
18 of the Act and the District Judge determined the  compen-
sation at the rate of Rs.3 per sq. yard on the basis of	 the
market value of the land on the date of the notification and
paid  solatium and interest from that date. The	 State	pre-
ferred	an  appeal against the award of the  District  Judge
before	the  High  Court but the appellant  did	 not  appeal
against	 that part of the award which went against  him	 but
filed  Cross-objections	 which being time-barred  were	dis-
missed. In the Cross-objections the appellant had inter alia
claimed	 interest from November 19, 1949 the date  when	 the
land  in question was taken over by the Government  and	 not
from February 1, 1955, the date when the notification  under
the  Land Acquisition Act was issued. The High	Court  ruled
that the compensation could only be determined on the  basis
of the market value of the land on the date of the notifica-
tion  issued  under 4( 1 ) of the Land Acquisition  Act	 and
since  such a notification had not been issued in the  case.
it was not possible to determine the amount of	compensation
payable to the appellant. The claimant appellant appealed to
this  Court on the strength of a certificate and this  court
held  that  the notification dated February 1,	1955  issued
under  Section 6 of the Act could be treated as a  composite
notification  both under Section 4(1) as also under  Section
6(1) of the Act and the district Judge could lawfully  award
the market value of the land. So holding, the Court remanded
the matter to the High Court for disposal on merit. The High
Court on remand reduced the price of the acquired land	from
Rs.3 per sq. yard to 1.35 sq, yard and rejected the claim of
the claimant to interest from November 19, 1949 instead of
448
February 1, 1955. as the Cross-objections failed by it	were
treated	 to be time-barred. Hence this appeal  raising	both
the contentions reprice of the land and the award of  inter-
est., w.e.f. Feb. 1, 1955.
Partly allowing the appeal this Court;
    HELD: (1) On a reference under Section 18 of the Act the
parties go to trial before the Court primarily on the  issue
of  determination  of market value of the land.	 So  far  as
award of interest is concerned it is never an issue  between
the parties. Once the conditions under Section 28 or Section
34 of the Act are satisfied the award of interest is  conse-
quential and automatic. [454G-H]
    (2)	 The  payment of interest is not  dependent  on	 any
claim by the person whose land has been acquired. There	 can
be  no controversy or any lis between the parties  regarding
payment	 of interest. When once the provision of section  34
are attracted it is obligatory for the collector to pay	 the
interest. If he fails to do so the same can be claimed	from
the Court in proceedings under section 18 of the Act or even
from the appellate court/courts thereafter. [455B]
    Reading  section  23 with section 26 of the Act,  it  is
clear that the award, which is deemed to be a decree, is the
sum total of conclusions reached by the courts in  determin-
ing  compensation  under Section 23 on appreciation  of	 the
evidence  between the parties. The costs 'under	 Section  27
and  the interest under Section 28 and 34 are added  to	 the
compensation  amount  to make it a consolidated	 award.	 The
costs and interest under the Act if not awarded by the lower
court  can  always be awarded by the higher  courts  in	 any
proceedings  under the Act and to any party entitled to	 the
same under the Act. [455D-E]



JUDGMENT: