Appeal No 325 of 1962
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated August 4 1959 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Appeal Suit No 489 of 1954
KBhimsankaram and R Ganapathy Iyer for the appellants
PRam Reddy T V R Tatachari and B R G K Achar for respondent No 1
January 23 1964
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MUDHOLKAR J
This is an appeal against the judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh by which it reduced the amount of compensation awarded to the appellants by the Subordinate Judge Vijayawada in respect of certain lands belonging to them which were acquired by the State
The lands in question are survey Nos
2812 3391 to 8 and 3381 to 3 which are situate at a short distance from the town of Vijayawada and lie alongside the Vijayawada Eluru Road
The Land Acquisition Officer had fixed Rs 3500 per acre for the first two of these survey Nos
and Rs 4000 per acre for the third survey number
The learned Subordinate Judge granted a uniform rate of Rs 10000 per acre for the lands comprised in all the survey numbers
There were some disputes with regard to 296 the entitlement to the compensation for survey No 3391 to 3 and the Land Acquisition Officer therefore made a reference to the Court for the apportionment of the com pensation amount among the various claimants
Six of the appellants did not accept the award of the Land Acquisition Officer and made applications in writing to him within the time allowed by law for referring the matter for deter mination of the court
It is common ground that no refer ence was made by the Land Acquisition Officer in pursuance of these applications
When the matter came up before the Court it proceeded on the footing that the reference made to it by the Land Acquisition Officer was not merely limited to the apportionment of compensation but was also with respect to the amount of compensation
No objection was however raised on behalf of the State that in the absence of any reference upon the applications of six of the appellants the Court was incompetent to deal with that matter
When the matter went up before the High Court by way of an appeal from the judgment of the Subordinate Judge the Government pleader raised the question that in the absence of a reference on the question of quantum of compensation by the Land Acquisition Officer the Court had no jurisdiction to consider that matter at all
The High Court though it ultimately reversed the finding of the court as to the amount of compensation unfortunately allowed the plea to be raised before it but ultimately upon a consideration of certain decisions negatived it
We say unfortunately because this is not a kind of plea which the State ought at all to have taken
Quite clearly applications objecting to the rates at which compensation was allowed were taken in time by persons interested in the lands which were under acquisition and it was no fault of theirs that a reference was not made by the Land Acquisition officer
Indeed whenever applications are made under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act it is the duty of the Land Acquisition Officer to make a reference unless there is a valid ground for rejecting the applications such as for instance that the applications were barred by time
Where an officer of the State is remiss in the performance of his duties in fairness the State ought not to take advantage of this fact
We are further of the 297 opinion that the High Court after the plea had been raised would have been well advised to adjourn the matter for enabling the appellants before us who were respondents in the High Court to take appropriate steps for compelling the Land Acquisition Officer to make a reference
All the same since the point was permitted to be urged before it by the High Court and has been raised before us on behalf of the State it is necessary to decide it
On behalf of the appellants it was contended before the High Court that by reason of the failure of the State to raise the plea before the Subordinate Judge as to the absence of a refer ence the State must be deemed to have waived the point
The High Court accepted this argument upon the view that this was not a case of inherent lack of jurisdiction and that the defect in the procedure was such as could be waived
In our opinion the view of the High Court is not correct
Section 121 of the Land Acquisition Act provides that after an award is filed in the Collector s office it shall except as provided in the Act be final and conclusive evidence as between the Collector and the persons interested of the true area and value of the land and the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested
The only manner in which the finality of the award can be called into question is by resort to the provisions of section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act sub section 1 of which reads thus Any person interested who has not accepted the award may by written application to the Collector require that the matter be referred by the Collector for the determination of the Court whether his objection be to the measurement of the land the amount of the compensation the persons to whom it is payable or the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested
 The proviso to sub section
2 prescribes the time within which an application under sub section 1 is to be made
Section 19 provides for the making of a reference by the Collector and specifies the matters which are to be comprised in that 298 reference
Thus the matter goes to the court only upon a reference made by the Collector
It is only after such a reference is made that the court is empowered to determine the objections made by a claimant to the award
Section 21 restricts the scope of the proceedings before the court to consideration of the contentions of the persons affected by the objection
These provisions thus leave no doubt that the jurisdiction of the court arises solely on the basis of a reference made to it
No doubt the Land Acquisition Officer has made a reference under section 30 of the Land Acquisition Act but that reference was only in regard to the apportionment of the compensation amongst the various claimants
Such a reference would certainly not invest the court with the jurisdiction to consider a matter not directly connected with it
This is really not a mere technicality for as pointed out by the Privy Council in Nusserwanjee Pestonjee  Ors
vs Meer Mynoodeen Khan Wullud Meer Sudroodeen Khan Bahadoor1 wherever jurisdiction is given by a statute and such jurisdiction is only given upon certain specified terms contained therein it is a universal principle that those terms should be complied with in order to create and raise the jurisdiction and if they are not complied with the jurisdiction does not arise
This was therefore a case of lack of inherent jurisdiction and the failure of the Slate to object to the proceedings before the court on the ground of an absence of reference in so far as the determination of compensation was concerned cannot amount to waiver or acquiescence
Indeed when there is an absence of inherent jurisdiction the defect cannot be waived nor can be cured by acquiescence
In Alderson vs Palliser  Anr
2 the Court of Appeal held that where the want of jurisdiction appears on the face of the proceedings
it cannot be waived
In Seth Badri Prasad  Ors
vs Seth Nagarmal and Ors
 3 this Court has held that even the bar of illegality of a transaction though not pleaded in the courts below can be allowed to be pleaded in this Court if it appears on the face of the pleading in 1 6 M 1
A 134 at 155
2 19012 KB833
3 1959 supp1 SCR 769
299 the case
The High Court has however based itself largely upon a decision of the Privy Council in Venkata Krishnayya Garu vs Secretary of State1
In that case there was in fact a reference by the Collector to the court but that reference was made by the Collector not upon the application of the person legally entitled to compensation but by a person whose claim to ownership of property had failed before the civil court but who was still a party to the land acquisition proceedings
In our opinion that decision is distinguishable on the short ground that whereas here there is no reference at all by the Collector or the Land Acquisi tion Officer in that case the Collector had made a reference though in making it he had committed an error of law in that he acted upon the application of a person who had been found to have no interest in the land
Disagreeing with the High Court we therefore hold that the Court had no jurisdiction to determine the amount of compensation and thus go behind the order of the Land Acquisition Officer
Upon this short ground the appeal must be dismissed
We have however heard Mr Bhimasankaram on merits and in our opinion there are no substantial grounds which would justify interference with the conclusions arrived by the High Court
For determining the amount of compensation seven sale deeds were filed Exs
Al to A4 on behalf of the State and B1 to B3 on behalf of the appellants
A synopsis of the sale deeds has been made by the High Court in its judgment and we can do no better than to reproduce it Sl
Exhi Date Extent of Amount Rate per Proximity of No bit land acre site acquired Acs
Rs Rs 1
A 1 15 2 46 0 40 12 1750 4240 Opposite to thesuit land and abutting the main road
A 2 25 8 46 0 65 12 2500 3800 Some distance away from the site of the acquired land towards Eluru
AI R 1939 P C 39 60 M L J 399
300 3
A 3 9 10 46 1 0045OO 4500 Very near the acqu ired land the same vendee
4A 4 9 10 46 1 004500 4500 Partof the same site and the vendee
B 1 14 10 46 0 707000 100005 furlongs away from the suit site and nearer Bezwada
B 2 14 2 47 1 09 just over 5 furlongs away to 12000 12000 wards Bezwada
7B 3 24 1 46 0 36 1850 5000 Itis a part and parcel of the same land that is sought to be acqui red
Out of these sale deeds Exs
Al and A2 were rejected by the High Court Al on the ground that it is several months earlier than the date of notification under section 4 of the Act and exhibit A2 on the ground that the land comprised in it is some distance away from the land under acquisition and is also further away from Vijayawada than this land
The High Court similarly rejected exhibit B2 2 on the ground that the transaction was entered into four months after the publi cation of the notification and on the further ground that it is located in the direction of Vijayawada at a distance of five furlongs from the land acquired
It has apparently rejected also exhibit B3 though the land sold thereunder is a part and parcel of the same land which is sought to be acquired
The ground appears to be that the land sold thereunder is only 36 cents in area
It has accepted Exs
A3 and A4 and on that basis awarded compensation at the rate of Rs 4500 per acre for all these lands
In so far as exhibit B1 is concerned the High Court has taken the view that though it bears the date of October 14 1946 the cir cumstances that it was actually registered on February 13 1947 and some of the stamp papers used were in the names of persons unconnected with the transaction shows that it has really been ante dated so as to make it appear to be earlier in point of time than the notification
In our opinion what the High Court has said about these three exhibits B1 B2 and B3 seems to have consi 301 derable force
At any rate we do not think that there are any substantial grounds upon which we can look at these transactions in a different way
If these documents go away as also Exs
Al and A2 we are left with only Exs A3 and A4
Some argument was advanced before us to the effect that the lands comprised in the transactions repre sented by these documents have no direct access to the road and that therefore they could not have fetched a good price
Bearing in mind the fact that these are all agricultural lands a rate of Rs 4500 per acre at which they were sold cannot prima facie be regarded as inadequate
As regards access it is sufficient to say that they are parts of the same field which abut on the road though the portions sold do not themselves abut on the road
Since the lands sold under these sale deeds were part and parcel of the same field which abuts on the road those who purchased these lands would naturally obtain a right of way over the land unsold so as to have access to the road
In the circumstances we hold that the appeal is without substance
Accordingly we dismiss it with costs
Appeal dismissed


Summary:
On a dispute with regard to the entitlement to the compensation awarded to the appellants in respect of certain land acquired by the State the Land Acquisition Officer made a reference to the court for the apportionment of the compensation amount among the various claimants
Six of the appellants did not accept the award of the Land Acquisition Officer and made applications to him for referring the matter for determination by the court
No reference was made by him in pursuance of these applications
When the matter came up before the Court it proceeded on the footing that the reference made to it was not merely limited to the apportionment of compensation but also with respect to the amount of compensation
No objection was raised by the State before the Subordinate Judge that in the absence of any reference upon the applications of six of the appellants the Court was incompetent to deal with that matter
When the matter went up in appeal before the High Court the Government Pleader raised the question that in the absence of a reference on the question of quantum of compensation the Court had no jurisdiction to consider that matter at all
The High Court allowed this plea to be raised before it but ultimately negatived it
and it also modified the finding of the Court as to the amount of compensation
The appellants contended before the High Court that by reason of thefailure of the State to raise the plea before the Subordinate Judge asto the absence of a reference the State must be deemed to have waivedthe point
The High Court accepted this argument upon the view thatthis was not a case of inherent lack of jurisdiction and that the defectin the procedure was such as could be waived
Heldi On consideration of the relevant provisions contained in P 18 of the land Acquisition Act the jurisdiction of the court arises solely on the basis of a reference made to it
Wherever jurisdiction is given by a statute and such jurisdiction is only given upon certain specified terms contained therein it is a universal principle that those terms should be complied with in order to create and raise the jurisdiction and if they are not complied with the jurisdiction does not arise
Therefore it was a case of lack of inherent jurisdiction and the failure of the State to object to the proceedings before the Court on the ground of an absence of 295 reference in so far as the determination of compensation was concerned cannot amount to waiver or acquiescence
Indeed when there is an absence of inherent jurisdiction the defect cannot be waived nor can be cured by acquisition
iiThe court had no jurisdiction to determine the amount of compensation and thus go behind the order of the Land Acquisition Officer
Nusserwanjee Pestonjee and others vs Meer Mynoodeen Khan Wullud Meer Subroodeen Khan Bahadur 6 MLA 134 Alderson vs Paliser and another and Seth Badri Prasad and others vs Seth Nagarmal and others1959 Supp
1 SCR 769 relied on
Venkata Krishnayya Garu vs Secretary of State AIR 1939 PC distinguished