Smt. Bailamma @ Doddabailamma (Dead) ... vs Poornaprajna House Building ...

These appeals by special leave are directed against the Judgment and Order of the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore dated February 12, 1998 in Writ Appeal No.2079 of 1993, Writ Appeal Nos.2080-2081 of 1993 and Writ Appeal Nos.2090-94 of 1993. Civil Appeal Nos.2073-2077of 2000 are directed against the judgment and order of the High Court dated September 21, 1999 dismissing the Writ Appeals following the judgment of the High Court in the earlier batch of Writ Appeals. The High Court by its impugned judgment and order upheld the award made by the Collector holding that the requirements of Section 11 and 11A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'The Act') were met if the award was made and signed by the Collector and approved by the Government within a period of two years from the date of last publication of declaration under Section 6 of the Act. In the instant case the Collector signed his award after an enquiry as contemplated by the Act on March 13, 1990 and sent the same on the same date for the approval of the Government. The award was approved by the Government on November 16, 1992, but after excluding the period during which an order of stay operated against the Government from acting pursuant to the declaration made under Section 6 of the Act, the same was deemed to be approved within the period of two years from the date of last publication of declaration under Section 6 of the Act. The contention urged on behalf of the appellants herein, that after the approval of the Government the Collector should have declared the award was repelled, since it was found in the facts of the case that the award had already been signed by the Collector and sent to the Government for approval. To appreciate the contentions urged before us it is necessary to narrate the relevant facts of the case.

A Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act dated August 11, 1987 was published in the Official Gazette on August 13, 1987. Objections received from the owners of the lands were considered by the Collector and rejected. Thereafter, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act dated June 30, 1988 was published in the Official Gazette on July 1, 1988. The last date of publication of the aforesaid declaration in accordance with Section 6 of the Act was November 5, 1988. In normal course, therefore, the award should have been made before November 5, 1990. However, the Collector made his award on March 13, 1990 and after signing the same sent the award to the Government for its approval.

It appears that the Respondents- Society was apprehensive that the Government may not approve the award within the statutory period fixed by the Act and, therefore, it filed a writ petition on June 27, 1990 for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to the Government to approve the award. In the said writ petition an interim order was made on June 29, 1990 staying the operation of the declaration dated June 30, 1988 for a period of two weeks from the date of the order. Subsequently, the stay was extended till further orders. On February 7, 1991, the order of stay was modified only to the extent that it was clarified that the order of stay shall not prevent the Government from granting approval to the award, submitted to it by the Collector. The order of stay, however, continued to operate subject to the clarification given, and other steps could not be taken till the order of stay finally stood vacated on November 18, 1992. It is only thereafter that notice of the award could be given to the persons interested. On November 16, 1992 the Government granted approval to the award submitted by the Collector. On November 18, 1992 the Writ Petition filed by the Respondents Society was withdrawn, and thereafter the order of stay finally stood vacated.

From the facts stated above, it would appear that an order of stay operated against the Government from taking any further steps pursuant to the declaration dated June 30, 1988 which included grant of approval to the award of the Collector and its communication to the persons interested and other steps to be taken under the Act, till November 18, 1992. It is the contention of the Respondents that in computing the period of two years for making the award in accordance with Section 11A of the Act the period during which the stay order operated must be excluded. The High Court has upheld this contention and held that the award was approved within the period prescribed by Section 11A of the Act.

[(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), if at any stage of the proceedings, the Collector is satisfied that all the persons interested in the land who appeared before him have agreed in writing on the matters to be included in the award of the Collector in the form prescribed by rules made by the appropriate Government, he may, without making further enquiry, make an award according to the terms of such agreement.

In this factual background, we now proceed to consider the submissions urged before us.

In view of our finding it is not necessary for us to consider the submission urged on behalf of the respondents that the award made by the Collector was a consent award at least in respect of 18 acres and 1 guntha of land.

We find no merit in these appeals and the same are accordingly dismissed. In the facts and circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs.