Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – s.4 – Land in question was used by the State for construction of road in the year 1996, however, no compensation was paid and the land was used without acquiring it under the provisions of the 1894 Act – Writ petition filed by respondents-land owners in 2016 –Allowed by Single Judge, appellants directed to initiate the process for acquisition of the land in accordance with law – Division Bench dismissed the LPA filed by the appellants on ground of limitation – Held: When the writ petition and the claim of the land owners to claim the compensation for the land has been opposed by the State solely on the ground of delay and laches, the owners of the land used by the State for construction of the road shall be entitled to the compensation for their lands, on certain conditions, which was used by the State without acquisition – 17.05.1996 (the date of the notification issued u/s.4 for acquisition of the land initially, however was permitted to lapse) be treated as the deemed date of acquisition u/s.4 – Land owners entitled to the compensation considering the market price of the land in question used by the State for construction of the road as on 17.05.1996 – However, considering the fact that there was huge delay of 20 years in filing the writ petition, the land owners are not entitled to any interest under the 1894 Act from 17.05.1996 to the date of filing of the writ petition, but they are entitled to all the statutory benefits which may be available under the 1894 Act from 17.05.1996 – Constitution of India – Arts. 136, 142.
Sukh Dutt Ratra & Anr. Vs State Of Himachal Pradesh & Ors. (2022) 7 SCC 505 : 2022 (4) JT 31 – referred to.
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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