Case: Bihar State Housing Board Vs. State Of Bihar

computing any of the periods referred to in the first proviso, the period during which any action or proceeding to be taken in pursuance of the notification issued under Section 4, sub-section (1), is stayed by an order of a court shall be excluded.Explanation 2 - Where the compensation to be awarded for such property is to paid out of the funds of a corporation owned of controlled by the State, such compensation shall be deemed to be compensation paid out of public revenue.(2) Every declaration shall be published in the official Gazette, and in two daily newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land is situate of which at least one shall be in the regional language, and the Collector shall cause public notice of the substance of such declaration to be given at convenient places in the said locality (the last of the dates of such publication and the giving of such public notice, being hereinafter referred to as the date of the publication of the declaration), and such declaration shall state the district or other territorial division in which the land is situate, the purpose for which it is needed, its approximate area, and, where a plan shall have been made of the land, the place where such plan may be inspected. (Emphasis supplied)* * *11A. Period within which an award shall be made (1) The Collector shall make an award under Section 11 within a period of two years from the date of the publication of the declaration and if no award is made within that period, the entire proceedings for the acquisition of the and shall lapse:Provided that in a case where the said declaration has been published before the commencement of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, the award shall be made within a period of two years from such commencement.Explanation - In computing the period of two years referred to in this section, the period during which any action or proceeding to be taken in pursuance of the said declaration is stayed by an order of a court shall be excluded." 7. The crucial words in Section 11A "within a period of two years from the date of publication of the declaration". Section 6(2) deals with the various modes of publication, as enjoined by the legislature and what is envisaged by the Statute is a conjoint publication, by all such methods. Various modes as prescribed in the provision itself are (a) publication in the official gazette, (b) publication in two daily newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land is situate of which at least one shall be in the regional language and (c) public notice of substance of such declaration at convenient places in the locality. There is no option left with any one to given up or waive any one or other of the modes and all such modes have to be strictly resorted to. Sub-section (2) of Section 6 therefore necessarily makes it abundantly clear that the last of the dates of the publication and giving of such public notice shall "hereinafter" be referred to as the date of publication of the declaration. Therefore, the expression "date of publication of declaration" appearing in Section 11A a stage subsequent to Section 6, answering the situation "hereinafter" has to be the last of the dates out of the three modes of publication ordained by the statute. In substance the triumvirate modes are cumulative and inseparable in the sense that unless all the three modes are resorted to and completed, there is no scope for the limitation period of two years beginning to run or for the penal consequence envisaged ensuing therefrom. 8. In Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti and Anr. vs. Makrand Singh and others (1995(2) SCC 497) while considering the various provisions (in which only the period of limitation was changed by amending Act 68 of 1984) it was noted that there are there modes of publication and the three steps are as indicated supra. 9. If one takes note of the parenthesis appearing in Sub-Section (2) of Section 6, t is clear that reference to the subsequent provisions of the Act to the date of publication of declaration has to be determined as the last of the dates of the publication and the giving of public notice. As the date of publication by local publication was the last at that point of time i.e. on 15.3.1991 the award on 25.3.1992 was not beyond the prescribed period of limitation. 10. The decision in Kaliyappans case (supra) was on different aspect of the problem raised in the factual position presented in that case, and did not deal with the question of the nature involved in the present appeal. Even in that case, this Court observed that under Section 11A, the Collector is empowered to make an award within two years from the date of publication of the declaration meaning thereby that it will be till the expiry of the last date of the period of two years. The further question as to how the said period is to be computed did not arise in that case, as in the present case. Therefore, no assistance is available to the respondent-land owner from that decision. On the contrary, the decision in Eugenio Misquita and others vs. State of Goa and others (1997 (8) SCC 47 ) was rendered on identical legal set up after advertising to the relevant distinctions in computing the period of limitation for making the declaration under Section 6 in contrast to the one for computing the period of limitation stipulated for making the award under Section 11A of the Act, in the special context of the mandate contained in Sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the act. We are in respectful agreement with the principles laid down therein and the same squarely governs this case, in favour of the stand taken for the appellant, the limitation having necessarily to be computed from the last of the publication viz., 15.3.1991.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]10. The decision in Kaliyappans case (supra) was on different aspect of the problem raised in the factual position presented in that case, and did not deal with the question of the nature involved in the present appeal. Even in that case, this Court observed that under Section 11A, the Collector is empowered to make an award within two years from the date of publication of the declaration meaning thereby that it will be till the expiry of the last date of the period of two years. The further question as to how the said period is to be computed did not arise in that case, as in the present case. Therefore, no assistance is available to the respondent-land owner from that decision. On the contrary, the decision in Eugenio Misquita and others vs. State of Goa and others (1997 (8) SCC 47 ) was rendered on identical legal set up after advertising to the relevant distinctions in computing the period of limitation for making the declaration under Section 6 in contrast to the one for computing the period of limitation stipulated for making the award under Section 11A of the Act, in the special context of the mandate contained in Sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the act. We are in respectful agreement with the principles laid down therein and the same squarely governs this case, in favour of the stand taken for the appellant, the limitation having necessarily to be computed from the last of the publication viz., 15.3.1991.