Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 23: Observing that the State is the owner of the State land and has no right to compensation payable for the land owned and possessed by it, the High Court said since the authorities have worked out the compensation of State land in favour of the cultivator as such directed for payment of compensation to the appellants along with statutory interest in terms of the award within a period of eight weeks.
Brief facts put by the appellant-Cultivators, filing of instant appeal were that land in possession of the appellants measuring 23 kanals, 10 marlas situated at village Sangaldan Tehsil Gool District Ramban was acquired by the Government for dumping of debris and the Collector Land Acquisition, Gool conducted the proceedings under the Jammu and Kashmir Land Acquisition Act and passed award of compensation dated in the year 2015. The Collector Land Acquisition paid the compensation in terms of the award aforesaid and the apportionment statement prepared pursuant thereto to the interested persons except the appellants.
Authorities have filed the objections and the plea taken by them to deny the compensation to the appellants is that the land with respect to which the compensation is claimed by them is a State land under their illegal occupation and, therefore, they are not entitled to any compensation.
Division Bench after having heard the counsel for the parties, perused the record and viewed that the appellants cannot be denied their right to compensation qua the land which, at the time of acquisition, was in their cultivating possession.
Government Counsel pleaded that the subject land is a State land and, therefore, the compensation fixed by the Collector Land Acquisition, Gool in the award is only payable to the State and not the appellants, who have been found to be in illegal occupation of the State land.
“The plea raised by the Government counsel cannot be accepted for the simple reason that as held by the Supreme Court in the case of Sharda Devi v/s State of Bihar, the Government on whose behest the land is acquired for public purpose is not a person interested within the meaning of Section 3(b) of the Act and, therefore, the State has no right to compensation for its own land”, the DB recorded.
Court from a perusal of the award passed by the Collector Land Acquisition said the apportionment statement prepared by the Collector Land Acquisition, Gool, it is abundantly clear that the compensation has been worked out by the Collector in the name of the appellants, who have been found to be in cultivating possession thereof.
To be precise, the court said, the State land cannot be made subject matter of acquisition at the instance of and for the benefit of the Government. Otherwise also, the award passed by the Collector Land Acquisition, Gool in the instant case has become final and the respondents have not challenged the same.
“It, thus, does not lie in the mouth of the respondents to say that the appellants, though named in the apportionment statement to receive the compensation, should be denied the compensation on the ground that they are not the owner of the land acquired, but were only found to be in cultivating possession”, the DB said.
Court relying upon the judgment of Division Bench also allowed the appeal and set aside the order of the Writ Court whereby the claim of the appellant-cultivators was dismissed in limine issued a direction to the respondents to forthwith release and make the payment of compensation to the appellants along with statutory interest in terms of the award and the apportionment statement within a period of eight weeks from the date, certified copy of this judgment is made available to them.
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