IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No. 1692 of 2008 Date of Decision: February 12, 2008 Jasbir Kaur ...Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and another …Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. KUMAR HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.P.S. MANN Present: Mr. Harit Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioner. Ms. Charu Tuli, Sr. DAG, Punjab, for the respondents. JUDGMENT M.M. KUMAR, J. This petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution prays for issuance of directions to the respondents to make reference to the learned District Judge, Jalandhar, in pursuance to the application filed under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for brevity, ‘the Act’), on 8.11.2006 (P-2), for determining the market value of the land acquired by the respondents vide Notification No. 14/24/91-M-5/73340, dated 30.9.2005, issued under Section 4 of the Act and declaration bearing No. 14/24/98-M-5/4344, C.W.P. No. 1692 of 2008 dated 14.7.2006, issued under Section 6 of the Act, acquiring 22 acres 5 kanals and 11 marlas of land, situated at Village Phillaur, H.B. No. 153, District Jalandhar and Sefabad, H.B. No. 136, Tehsil Phillaur, District Jalandhar. In response to the notice of motion having been issued, a short affidavit of Shri Narinder Singh Bath, PCS, Collector Land Acquisition, Colonization Department, Punjab, Chandigarh, has been placed on record by the learned State counsel. According to the affidavit, the owner of the land is Smt. Jasbir Kaur daughter of Gurbax Singh and the amount awarded was received by her, whereas the reference application under Section 18 of the Act was filed by Jasbir kaur wife of Darshan Singh. It has, thus, been asserted that the particulars of the recipient of the amount of compensation do not match with the particular of person who has filed the reference application. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record we find that in the record the name of the petitioner has been described as ‘Jasbir Kaur daughter of Gurbax Singh’, whereas at the time of filing of reference application under Section 18 of the Act, the name has been mentioned as ‘Jasbir Kaur wife of Darshan Singh. Therefore, merely on this account it cannot be concluded that these are two different entities. Even otherwise, if the respondents were having any doubt in their mind, the same could be verified from the detail of the land given by the petitioner in her reference application (P-2). The respondents have already recognised the petitioner Jasbir Kaur as owner of the land by disbursing her amount of compensation. 2 C.W.P. No. 1692 of 2008 The hair-splitting approach adopted by the respondents is condemnable and speaks for extraneous considerations, which is wholly unwarranted. In view of above, instant petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to send the reference application under Section 18 of the Act, filed by the petitioner to the learned District Judge, Jalandhar, for adjudication, within two week from the date of receipt of this order. The writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms. (M.M. KUMAR) JUDGE (T.P.S. MANN) February 12, 2008 JUDGE Pkapoor 3