Land Acquisition – Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 – s.24(2) – Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – Land acquired u/s.4 of the Act, 1984 vide Notification dated 13.11.1959 – High Court, relying upon the decision of Supreme Court in the case of Pune Municipal Corporation, allowed writ petition filed by respondents and declared that acquisition with respect to the land in question is deemed to have lapsed u/s.24(2) of the Act, 2013 as the assessed compensation was never paid to the original owners or his acknowledged successor-in-interest and instead the same was deposited sometime in the year 1967 with the Treasury – Held: High Court did not accept the case on behalf of the appellant that the actual vacant physical possession of the land in question was taken over solely on the ground that the land is vacant and the vacant portions in fact have been mortgaged and who constructed the boundary wall, which cannot be recited in the present proceedings – Nothing on record that at any point of time, either the recorded owners or his successors had made any grievance with respect to non-payment of compensation – Even the decision in the case of Pune Municipal Corporation has been subsequently overruled by the Constitution Bench decision in the case of Indore Development Authority – Accordingly, twin conditions namely, not taking possession and not paying compensation have to be satisfied and if one of the conditions is not satisfied there shall not be any lapse of the acquisition – Possession of land in question was duly taken on 01.05.1964 – High Court, thus, committed serious error in declaring that the acquisition with respect to the land in question is deemed to have lapsed u/s.24(2) of the Act, 2013 – Judgment of High Court unsustainable.
Indore Development Authority vs Manoharlal & Ors. (2020) 8 SCC 129 : [2020] 3 SCR 1 – followed.
Pune Municipal Corporation & Anr. v. Harakchand Misrimal Solanki & Ors (2014) 3 SCC 183 – held
overruled.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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