Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – s.28A – Re-determination of the amount of compensation on the basis of the award of the court – Application u/s 28A for re-determination of the compensation within a period of 3 months from the date of judgment of the High Court or Supreme Court passed in appeal u/s.54 – Entitlement of – Held: Re-determination u/s.28A is available only in respect of an award passed by the court under Part III – Court referred to in s. 28A is the principal civil court of original jurisdiction – Thus, the judgment of the appellate court not within the purview of s.28A – Appellant not entitled to such a relief – His entitlement, is only in terms of s.28A based on the award of the Reference Court. Dismissing the appeal, the Court
HELD: The redetermination under Section 28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is available only in respect of an “Award” passed by the “court” under Part III of the Act, comprising Sections 18 to 28A (both inclusive). The “court” referred to in Section 28A of the Act is the court as defined under Section 3(d) to mean “... a principal civil court of original jurisdiction ...”. Thus, the judgment of the appellate court is not within the purview of Section 28A. The appellate courts under Section 54 are under Part VIII of the Act whereas the redetermination is only in respect of the Award passed by the Reference Court under Part III of the Act. However, if the State/authorities/claimants have approached the higher Courts for reduction/enhancement of quantum of compensation, as the case may be, the Collector, under Section 28A of the Act, shall wait till a decision is finally rendered and thereafter award the compensation as per the modified verdict of higher Courts. The appellant is not entitled to such a relief; his entitlement, if any, is only in terms of Section 28A of the Act based on the award of the Reference Court. [Paras 3-5][1021-CD, E-F] Jose Antonio Cruz Dos R. Rodriguese & another v. Land Acquisition Collector & another (1996) 6 SCC 746 : [1996] 8 Suppl. SCR 910; Bharatsing and others v. The State of Maharashtra and others (2017) SCC Online SC 1453 – relied on.
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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