tion Crl No 1061 of 1982
Under Article 37 of Constitution of India Prem Bhai and Prem Singh Commnr
Supreme Court Justice BL Loombha Chairman Legal Aid Advisory Board UP MK Ramamurthi B Datta Yogeshwar Prasad Ms Chandan Ramamurthi MA Krishnamoorthy Ms Rachna Joshi DD Sharma AS Pundir RP Srivastava SN Terdol Hemant Sharma Ms Anil Katiyar CVS Rao and Ms
Sangeeta Aggarwal for the appearing parties
The following Order of the Court was delivered On the basis of a letter received from Banwasi Seva Ashram operating in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh Writ Petition Criminal No 106182 under Article 32 of the Constitution of India was registered
Meanwhile the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited NTPC decided to set up a super thermal plant on part of the lands which were subject matter of the writ petition
NTPC got itself impleaded as a party in the writ petition and claimed that the completion of the project was a time bound programme and as such the land earmarked for the project be made free from prohibitive directions of this Court in the writ petition
The writ petition was disposed of by an order dated November 20 1986
This Court issued comprehensive directions and appointed a Board of Commissioners to supervise the implementation of the said directions
This Court has been monitoring the project during all these years in terms of the directions issued on November 20 1986
By this order we are finally disposing of the proceedings and the monitoring process so far as the NTPC is concerned
The directions dated November 20 1986 relevant for this purpose are as under 1 So far as the lands which have already been declared as reserved forest under Section 20 of the Act the same would not form part of the Writ Petition and any direction made by this Court earlier now or in future in this case would not relate 860 to the same
In regard to the lands declared as reserved forest it is however open to the claimants to establish their rights if any in any other appropriate proceeding
We express no opinion about the maintainability of such claim 5 The land sought to the acquired for the Rihand Super Thermal Power Project of the NTPC shall be freed from the ban of dispossession
Such land is said to be about 153 acres for Ash Pipe Line and 1643 acres for Ash Dyke and are located in the villages of Khamariya Parbatwa Jheelotola Dodhar and Jarha
Possession thereof may be taken  but such possession should be taken in the presence of one of the commissioners who are being appointed by this order and a detailed record of the nature and extent of the land the name of the person who is being dispossessed and the nature of enjoyment of the land and all other relevant particulars should be kept for appropriate use in future
Such records shall be duly certified by the Commissioner in whose presence possession is taken and the same should be available for use in all proceedings that may be taken subsequently
The NTPC has agreed before the Court that it shall strictly follow the policy on facilities to be given to land oustees as placed before the Court in the matter of lands which are subjected to acquisition for its purpose
The same shall be taken as an undertaking to the Court
 Mr Datta learned senior advocate appearing for the NTPC has stated that the NTPC has already taken actualsymbolic possession of 1375 acres of land
In respect of 1004 acres of the said land a notification under Section 4 of the hereinafter called the Act  was issued and the proceedings for declaring the said area as reserved forest were undertaken
The remaining 371 acres were part of Gaon Sabha land and ownership in the said land vested in the State Government
According to Mr Datta this land measuring 1375 acres is under the possession of NTPC and the project construction is in progress
Mr Ramamurthy on the other hand has contended that the actual possession of whole of the area is not with the NTPC and the Adivasiland owners are still in possession of their respective holdings
861 Mr Datta further states that apart from 1375 acres mentioned above the NTPC has yet to obtain possession of 465 acres of land which is reserved forest under Section 20 of the Act
In view of the directions quoted above the lands which have been declared as reserved forest under the Act are not the subject matter of the writ petition and as such no direction can be issued by this Court in that respect
In this order we are concerned with 1004 acres of land which is subject matter of Section 4 Notification under the Act
We have to ensure that the rights of the oustees are determined in their respective holdings and they are properly rehabilitated and adequately compensated
According to the summary of rehabilitation package filed on the record by Mr Datta there are 678 families which have been ousted from the land
Mr Ramamurthy however states that there are more than 1500 families which are likely to be affected by the take over of 1004 acres of land by the NTPC
We direct that the following measures to rehabilitate the evictees who were in actual physical possession of the landshouses etc
be taken by the NTPC in collaboration with the State Government
The NTPC shall submit a list of the evictees claimants to the District Judge Sonebharda before April 15 1992
Mr Prem Singh shall also submit the list of the evictees to the District Judge by April 15 1992
The District Judge Sonebhadra shall be the authority to finalise the list of the evictees
One plot of land measuring 60  x 40   to each of the evictee families be distributed for housing purposes through the district administration
Mr Datta has informed us that the plots of the said measurements have already been given to 641 families
We direct that the remaining evictees be also given the plots
Shifting allowance of Rs 1500 and in addition a lumpsum rent of Rs 3000 towards housing be given to each of the evictee families
Free transportation shall be provided for shifting
Monthly subsistence allowance equivalent to loss of net income from the acquired land to be determined by the District Judge Sonebhadra subject to a maximum of Rs 750 for a period of 10 years
The said 862 payment shall not be linked with employment or any other compensation
Unskilled and semi skilled posts in the project shall be reserved for the evictees subject to their eligibility and suitability
7The NTPC shall give preference to the oustees in employment in class III and IV posts under its administration subject to their suitability and eligibility
The evictees be offered employment through the contractors employed by the NTPC
The jobs of contractors under the administration of the NTPC be offered to the evictees
The shops and other business premises within the NTPC campus be offered to the evictees
The NTPC shall operate for the benefit of the evictees selfgenerating employment schemes such as carpentary training free tools to be provided after completion of training carpet weaving training sericulture masonary training dairy farming poultry farming and basket weaving training etc
The NTPC shall provide facilities in the rehabilitative area such as pucca roads pucca drainage system hand pumps wells portable water supply primary school health centre Panchayat Bhavan electricity connections bank and Sulabh Sauchalaya complex etc 13
The NTPC shall also provide hospitals schools adult education classes and sports centres for the evictees
The Deputy Commissioner Sonebhadra shall supervise and ensure that the above rehabilitation measures directed by us are fully complied with by the NTPC and other authorities
As regards compensation in respect of lands crops etc
Mr Datta states that crop compensation at Rs 850 per acre per year has been paid to the oustees
He states that a sum of Rs 164452968 paise has been paid to the oustees in this respect
He further states that Rs 1 crore and Rs 507500 have further been deposited by the NTPC with the State 863 Government on March 13 1991 and January 20 1992 respectively
According to him out of the said amount Rs 483564917 paise have so far been paid to the oustees as land compensation at the rate of Rs 10000 per acre
It is not disputed that Rs 850 per acre per year for the crops and Rs 10000 per acre for the land has been determined as provisional compensation
We direct that the provisional compensation at the above rates be paid to the oustees if not already paid within 8 weeks from today
In this respect we further issue the following directions a The District Judge Sonebhadra shall be authority to determine the compensation in respect of land crop house and any other legitimate claim based on existing rights of the oustees
b Mr Prem Singh Commissioner along with the Project Officer of the NTPC and Sarpanch of the area concerned shall verify the extent of the property of the oustees who have been or are likely to be evicted from the actual physical possession of the landshouses etc
It has been stated before us that such verification can be done within a period of two months
We direct that the verification be completed before April 15 1992
The rights determined by Mr Prem Singh and party shall be subject to the final approval of District Judge Sonebhadra
c The District Judge Sonebhadra shall issue notices to all the claimants before May 15 1992 asking them to file their respective claims for compensation
The evictees may also on their own whether they have received provisional compensation or not prefer their claims for compensation to the District Judge Sonebhadra before August 1 1992
d The District Judge Sonebhadra shall finally decide all the compensation claims expeditiously preferably before March 31 1993
The orders passed by the District Judge in each case shall be treated as the orders under Section 17 of the Act as amended by the Uttar Pradesh Act 25 of 1965
e Any party not satisfied with the order of the District Judge may have recourse to any remedy available under law
With the above directions we finally close the proceedings in respect of the lands in possession of the NTPC
RP Petition disposed of


Summary:
The appellant company served a charge sheet on the res pondent who was one of its employees alleging that he had stolen the cycle of the company s Head Clerk
A criminal case relating 228 to the theft was pending against him then
He was asked to show cause why he should not be dismissed for misconduct and as his explanation was unsatisfactory a certain date was fixed for enquiry
The respondent appeared before the enquiry committee but refused to participate in the enquiry by answering questions put to him as he did not want to produce any defence till the matter was decided by the Court
The companyhoweverafter completing the enquiry directed the dismissal of the respondent on the ground that misconduct had been proved against him
The company thereafter made an application under section 332 Of the Industrial Disputes Act to the Industrial Tribunal for approval of the disciplinary action taken against the respondent
In the meantime the respondent was acquitted by the Criminal Court The judgment of the Criminal Court was produced before the tribunal which refused to approve the order of dismissal of the respondent
On appeal by the company by special leave  Held that the principles of natural justice do not require that an employer must wait for the decision of the Criminal Trial Court before taking disciplinary action against an employee
Shri Bimal Kanta Mukherjee vs Messrs Newsman s Printing Works  approved
If a case is of a grave nature involving questions of fact and law which are not simple it would be advisable for the employer to await the decision of the Criminal Trial Court but in a simple case like the present the tribunal erred in not granting approval under section 332 of the Industrial Disputes Act