M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD.versusLAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR

854                      [2019]
               SUPREME COURT    4 S.C.R. 854
                             REPORTS                       [2019] 4 S.C.R.


A                M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD.
                                        v.
                     LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR
                 (Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.618 of 2018)
B                            FEBRUARY 26, 2019
           [UDAY UMESH LALIT AND HEMANT GUPTA, JJ.]
             Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – ss.4, 6, 18 and 28-A(1) – Award
      declared in respect of 136 acres of land, granting compensation @
      Rs.25,00,000/-per acre – Applications seeking reference u/s.18
C
      preferred by many landholders but not by the petitioner (holding
      about 15 acres of land) – Compensation raised to Rs.41,81,500/-
      per acre – Thereafter, petitioner filed application seeking
      redetermination of compensation u/s.28-A(1)– Application allowed
      by Collector vide order dated 06.03.2014 granting same benefits
D     to the petitioner in terms of the order of the Reference Court – In
      the meantime, matters traveled to the High Court, at the instance of
      the landholders – Compensation enhanced vide order dated
      24.05.2016 to Rs.2,80,00,000/-per acre in respect of comparable
      lands covered under the same notification – SLPs filed by State –
      Dismissed – Petitioner filed writ petition for quashing the order
E
      dated 06.03.2014 and redetermination of compensation in terms of
      the judgment of the High Court – Dismissed – On appeal, held:
      During the pendency of the present matter, Supreme Court summoned
      the original record to apprise itself as to the circumstances in which
      the application u/s.28A was taken up for consideration by the
F     Collector – Record indicates that the Collector was given to
      understand that no appeal or further challenge was pending
      consideration before any superior court and that the matter had
      attained finality – It is neither the case of the petitioner nor it is
      even remotely contended that despite being aware of such pending
      challenge, the Collector proceeded with the matter and decided the
G
      application u/s.28A– Petitioner approached the High Court only
      after the compensation was enhanced by the High Court – There is
      nothing in the petition as to why the petitioner took so much time to
      realise that the course undertaken by the Collector was not keeping
      with the principles laid down by Supreme Court – Explanation that
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                                       854
     M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD. v. LAND                            855
              ACQUISITION COLLECTOR

the petitioner became aware for the first time on 03.08.2016 does         A
not appear to be correct – For an entity who held more than 10% of
the land under acquisition the way it conducted itself does not inspire
confidence– Idea u/s.28A is certainly to extend benefit of equal
compensation to landholders who, for some reasons had not
preferred appropriate applications for Reference in time but for a
                                                                          B
company having profile such as the petitioner, inaction followed by
delay in filing petition in the High Court, disentitles the petitioner
from claiming any relief u/Art.226 of the Constitution – High Court
justified in rejecting the petition – Constitution of India – Art.226.
      Dismissing the Special Leave Petition, the Court
                                                                          C
       HELD: 1. During the pendency of the present matter,
Supreme Court had summoned the original record to apprise itself
as to the circumstances in which the application under Section
28A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was taken up for
consideration by the Collector. The record indicates that the
Collector was given to understand that no appeal or further               D
challenge was pending consideration before any superior court
and that the matter had attained finality. It is neither the case of
the petitioner nor it is even remotely contended that despite being
aware of such pending challenge, the Collector had proceeded
with the matter and decided the application under Section 28A.            E
It is also not the case that the petitioner had made the Collector
aware or brought it to the notice of the office about pendency of
such matter/further challenge. The petitioner approached the
High Court on 15.11.2016 only after the compensation was
enhanced by the High Court to the level of Rs.2,80,00,000/- per
acre in respect of comparable lands vide judgment dated                   F
24.5.2016. Again, there is nothing in the petition as to why the
petitioner took so much time to realise that the course undertaken
by the Collector was not in keeping with the principles laid down
by this Court. Looking to the profile of the petitioner which is a
limited company, it can certainly be said to be having resources          G
to equip itself with adequate knowledge on the front. The
explanation offered by the petitioner in the affidavit pursuant to
the direction issued on 06.02.2019 is not satisfactory. The
explanation that the petitioner became aware for the first time
on 03.08.2016 does not appear to be correct and reliable. Again,
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856            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2019] 4 S.C.R.


A     if the whole-time Director of the petitioner-company who swore
      the affidavit, was aware on 03.08.2016 that the compensation stood
      enhanced by the High Court vide judgment and order dated
      24.05.2016, there is no reason why the filing of the writ petition
      was delayed till 15.11.2016. For an entity who held more than
      10% of the land under acquisition the way it conducted itself does
B
      not inspire any confidence. The idea under Section 28A is certainly
      to extend benefit of equal compensation to landholders who, for
      some reasons had not preferred appropriate applications for
      Reference in time but for a company having profile such as the
      petitioner, inaction on the front followed by delay in filing petition
C     in the High Court, disentitles the petitioner from claiming any
      relief under Article 226 of the Constitution. [Paras 9, 10]
      [855-G-H; 856-A-G]
            State of Haryana and Anr Etc. v. Moti Sagar and Ors.
            Etc. Etc. Decision of Supreme Court dated 05.01.2017
D           in SLP (Civil) Nos.4927-4965 of 2017 @
            CC Nos. 23630-23668 of 2016; State of Haryana and
            Ors. Etc. v. Ram Chander and Anr Etc. Decision of
            Supreme Court dated 05.09.2017 in Civil Appeal
            Nos.11814-11864 of 2017; Moti Sagar and Ors. v. State
            of Haryana and Ors. Decision of Supreme Court dated
E           10.10.2017 in Civil Appeal No. 15015 of 2017;
            Bharatsing s/o. Gulabsingh Jakhad and Ors. v. State
            of Maharashtra and Ors.(2018) 11 SCC 92 ; Babua
            Ram v. State of U.P. (1995) 2 SCC 689 : [1994] 4 Suppl.
            SCR 148 – referred to.
F                             Case Law Reference
             (2018) 11 SCC 92               referred to       Para 7
             [1994] 4 Suppl. SCR 148       referred to        Para 8

G
             CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Special Leave Petition
      (Civil) No. 618 of 2018.
           From the Judgment and Order dated 10.10.2017 of the High Court
      of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in C.W.P. No. 23688 of 2016
      (O&M)]
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     M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD. v. LAND                               857
              ACQUISITION COLLECTOR

      Ranjit Kumar, Narendar Hooda, Sr. Adv., Devashish Bharuka,             A
D. N. Ray, Ms. Sarvshree, Rishi Raj Sharma, Justine George, Ravi
Bharuka, Advs. for the Petitioner.
      Manu Rajvanshi, Sunny Kadiyan, Dr. Monika Gusain, Advs. for
the Respondent.
      The Order of the Court was passed by                                   B

       UDAY UMESH LALIT, J. 1. In the present case, pursuant to
notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (“the Act”
for short) issued on 19.05.2008, followed by declaration under Section 6
of the Act on 26.05.2008 in respect of 136 acres of land, award was
declared on 21.12.2009 granting compensation @ 25,00,000/- per acre.         C
Applications seeking reference under Section 18 of the Act were
preferred by many landholders but the petitioner (formally known as
M/s. Reliance Haryana SEZ Limited) holding about 15 acres of land did
not prefer any such application.
       2. The Reference Court by order dated 16.11.2011 raised               D
compensation to Rs.41,81,500/- per acre, whereafter an application was
preferred by the petitioner on 01.2.2012 seeking redetermination of
compensation under Section 28-A(1) of the Act. Said application was
allowed on 06.03.2014 granting to the petitioner same benefits in terms
of the order of the Reference Court. The Collector had proceeded on          E
the footing that no further challenge was pending and the assessment
made by the Reference Court had attained finality.
       3. At the instance of the landholders, in the meantime, the matters
had travelled to the High Court, which enhanced the compensation on
24.05.2016 to Rs.2,80,00,000/- per acre in respect of comparable lands       F
covered under the same notification. The determination by the High
Court was challenged by the State and the landholders. Special Leave
Petitions filed by State namely SLP (Civil) CC Nos. 23630-23668 of
2016 titled State of Haryana and anr etc. vs. Moti Sagar and Ors.
Etc. Etc. and all other connected matters were dismissed by this Court
on 05.01.2017. Later, Civil Appeal Nos. 11814-11864 of 2017 titled State     G
of Haryana andors. Etc. Vs. Ram Chander and Anr Etc. preferred
by landholders came to be disposed of on 05.09.2017whereunderthis
Court deducted 15% towards development from the compensation
awarded by the High Court. In respect of comparable lands i.e. lands
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858            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 4 S.C.R.


A     from village Dhankot the compensation thus got reduced to 2,38,00,000/-
      per acre. A separate order was passed in respect of Civil Appeal No.
      15015 of 2017 titled Moti Sagar and ors. Vs. State of Haryana and
      ors.on 10.10.2017.
             4. After the judgment of the High Court, the petitioner filed CWP
B     No.23688 of 2016 praying for quashing of the order dated 06.03.2014
      and prayed for redetermination of compensation in terms of the judgment
      of the High Court. It was asserted:
            “That the said award dated 06.03.2014, Annexure P-5, however,
            has been made in the teeth of the ratio of law, as laid down by the
C           Hon’ble Supreme Court in BabuaRam v. State of U.P.; (1995) 2
            SCC 689, vide which it was held that the finality of the
            determination of compensation in a given case of acquisition and
            assessment of compensation is attained with the decree of the
            appellate court, be it the Hon’ble High Court of the Hon’ble
            Supreme Court, and the decree of the trial court gets merged in
D           the decree of the appellate court, which alone is executable. In
            the said judgment, the Hon’ble Supreme Court was, thus, pleased
            to hold that when an appeal is pending in the High Court or its
            appellate forum, the learned Collector should stay his hands in the
            meanwhile in the matter of redetermination of compensation till
E           the appeal has been finally disposed of and he should redetermine
            the compensation, in the cases of redetermination of the amount
            of compensation on the basis of the said award of the reference
            court only when the final judgment and decree of the appellate
            forum have been made. In the instant matter also, the first appeals
            against the said Reference Court Award dated 16.11.2011,
F           Annexure P-3, since were already pending before this Hon’ble
            Court on the day which the said subject Award dated 06.03.2014,
            Annexure P-5, was passed by the Respondent, therefore, the
            Respondent ought to have instead awaited the decision of this
            Hon’ble Court in those first appeals, before disposing of the said
G           application for redetermination of the amount of compensation on
            the basis of the said award of the Court filed by the Petitioner
            immediately, which exercise was in the teeth of the aforestated
            settled principles of law, as the said Award dated 16.11.2011,


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     M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD. v. LAND                                 859
    ACQUISITION COLLECTOR [UDAY UMESH LALIT, J.]

      Annexure P-3, had not yet attained finality and was a subject            A
      matter of appeals before a superior court, i.e. this Hon’ble Court.
      The said subject Award dated 06.03.2014, Annexure P-5, passed
      by the Respondent was thus a premature attempt of
      redetermination of the amount of compensation on the basis of
      the award of the Court, contrary to the law laid down by the
                                                                               B
      Hon’ble Supreme Court in Babua Ram’s case (supra).”
      5. Said Writ Petition came to be dismissed by the High Court on
10.10.2017. It was observed by the High Court:
      “… … …The petitioner herein is a limited company. Once it
      could file application under Section 28A of the Act just within the      C
      time permitted under Section 28A of the Act after the award was
      announced by the Reference Court, it cannot be claimed that it
      was not knowing the status of other cases or the remedy against
      the award passed by the Collector on application under Section
      28A of the Act. Section 28A(3) of the Act provides that in case
      either of the parties is aggrieved against the award passed by the       D
      Collector, it can file application for reference of the dispute to the
      Court. The aforesaid remedy was not availed of by the petitioner.
      The period thereof expired long back.”
       6. The aforesaid judgment dated 10.10.2017 is presently under
challenge. After hearing learned counsel for both sides, on 06.02.2019         E
this Court posed certain questions on which response from the petitioner
was sought. The questions were posed as those factual details were not
available on record. Thereafter, an affidavit was filed giving answers to
said questions as under:-
      “4. That the petitioner submits the following response to the issues     F
      in terms of the aforesaid order dated 06.02.2019:
      (a) Whether any application for reference was preferred after
      the disposal of application under Section 28A of the Act?
      Response: No.
                                                                               G
      (b) Was the petitioner aware while the application under Section
      28A of the Act was pending consideration that the appeals were
      preferred and were pending in the appellate court?


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860      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2019] 4 S.C.R.


A     Response: No.
      (c) When did the petitioner come to know for the first time about
      the pendency or disposal of the appeals by the High Court?
      Response: The petitioner never came to know of the pendency
      of the appeals before the High Court till disposal of its application
B     under Section 28A on 06.03.2014. The petitioner came to know
      about the disposal of the said appeals for the first time on
      03.08.2016.
             The Petitioner had received a notice dated 04.07.2016 in
      respect of one of its subsidiary company namely Nemita
C     Commercial Private Limited, under sec. 9 of the Land Acquisition
      Act, 1894 from the office of the Land Acquisition Collector, Urban
      Estate, Haryana for hearing with regard to land acquisition
      pertaining to Village Sihi Hadbast no. 108, Tehsil Manesar, District
      Gurgaon/Rewari. This land acquisition arose out of a notification
D     under sec. 4 dated 07.08.2013 and notification under sec. 6 dated
      05.08.2014. This hearing was scheduled to be held on 03.08.2016.
              It was during this hearing on 03.08.2016 that the
      representative of the Petitioner, Shri Satyawan, came to know
      about the decision of the Hon’ble High Court dated 24.05.2016 in
E     Moti Sagar &Ors. v. State of Haryana and Anr. (RFA no.
      1580 of 2012) filed by the other landowners. It is pertinent to
      note that the petitioner’s application under section 28A and the
      hearing held on 03.08.2016 pertaining to Nemita Commercial
      Private Limited was heard in the same office of the Land
      Acquisition Collector.
F
      Thereafter, the Petitioner contacted Shri Shailendra Jain, Sr. Adv.
      who had also argued on behalf of the writ petitioners in Moti
      Sagar and engaged him to argue the writ petition bearing C.W.P.
      No. 23688 of 2016 (O&M) challenging the order dated 06.03.2014
      whereby the application under section 28A filed by the petitioner
G     was disposed off. English translation and true copy of the notice
      dated 04.07.2016 are being annexed herewith and marked as
      ANNEXURE ‘B’ (pages 11 to 13). In support, the affidavit of
      the aforesaid representative of the Petitioner, Shri Satyawan is
      also filed along with the present affidavit.
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        M/S. MODEL ECONOMIC TOWNSHIP LTD. v. LAND                                861
       ACQUISITION COLLECTOR [UDAY UMESH LALIT, J.]

          (d) When was the writ petition filed in the High Court?                A
          Response: The petitioner had filed its writ petition on 15.11.2016.”
         7. Relying on the decision of this Court in Bharatsing s/o.
Gulabsingh Jakhad and Ors. Vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors.
1
  it is contended by the petitioner that the Collector ought to have kept
the application under Section 28A of the Act pending till the appeals            B
were decided and that for the failure of the Collector on that count, the
petitioner ought not to be put to prejudice. It is, therefore, submitted that
the order dated 06.03.2014 be set aside; the entire exercise under Section
28A be undertaken de novo keeping in mind the compensation as awarded
by the High Court (as scaled by this Court later).                               C
                            1
       8. In Bharatsing the award was passed on 04.06.1977. The
Reference Court allowed enhancement vide decision dated 01.10.1992,
whereafter application under Section 28A of the Act was preferred on
31.12.1992. Said application was decided on 25.10.2000 that is almost
eight years after the application was preferred. Around this time, cross         D
appeals preferred by the landholders as well as the State against the
decision of the Reference Court were pending in the High Court. These
appeals were disposed of by the High Court on 23.03.2009 granting
compensation at an enhanced rate of Rs.18000 per acre. Soon thereafter,
second application under Section 28A of the Act was preferred on
27.05.2009 seeking benefit under the judgment of the High Court dated            E
23.03.2009. This second application came to be dismissed by the High
Court. This Court affirmed the view that second application under Section
28A could not be preferred but found that the disposal of the first
application under Section 28A on 25.10.2000 was not in conformity with
the law laid down by this Court in Babua Ram vs. State of U.P.2 and              F
other subsequent cases. In the facts of the case, this Court, therefore
directed that the original application preferred on 31.12.1992 be considered
afresh.
      9. During the pendency of the present matter, this Court had
summoned the original record to apprise itself as to the circumstances in        G
which the application under Section 28A of the Act was taken up for
consideration by the Collector. The record indicates that the Collector
was given to understand that no appeal or further challenge was pending
1
    (2018) 11 SCC 92
2
    (1995) 2 SCC 689
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862             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2019] 4 S.C.R.


A     consideration before any superior court and that the matter had attained
      finality.
              10. It is neither the case of the petitioner nor it is even remotely
      contended that despite being aware of such pending challenge, the
      Collector had proceeded with the matter and decided the application
B     under Section 28A. It is also not the case that the petitioner had made
      the Collector aware or brought it to the notice of the office about pendency
      of such matter/further challenge. The petitioner approached the High
      Court on 15.11.2016 only after the compensation was enhanced by the
      High Court to the level of Rs.2,80,00,000/- per acre in respect of
      comparable lands vide judgment dated 24.5.2016. Again, there is nothing
C     in the petition as to why the petitioner took so much time to realise that
      the course undertaken by the Collector was not in keeping with the
      principles laid down by this Court. Looking to the profile of the petitioner
      which is a limited company, it can certainly be said to be having resources
      to equip itself with adequate knowledge on the front. The explanation
D     offered by the petitioner in the affidavit pursuant to the direction issued
      on 06.02.2019, in our view, is not satisfactory. The explanation that the
      petitioner became aware for the first time on 03.08.2016 does not appear
      to be correct and reliable. Again, if Shri Satyawan who swore the affidavit
      as whole-time Director of the petitioner-company, was aware on
      03.08.2016 that the compensation stood enhanced by the High Court
E     vide judgment and order dated 24.05.2016, there is no reason why the
      filing of the writ petition was delayed till 15.11.2016. For an entity who
      held more than 10% of the land under acquisition the way it conducted
      itself does not inspire any confidence. The idea under Section 28A is
      certainly to extend benefit of equal compensation to landholders who,
F     for some reasons had not preferred appropriate applications for Reference
      in time but for a company having profile such as the petitioner, inaction
      on the front followed by delay in filing petition in the High Court, in our
      view, disentitles the petitioner from claiming any relief under Article 226
      of the Constitution.
G          11. The High Court was, therefore, justified in rejecting the petition.
      We see no reason to interfere. This Special Leave Petition is dismissed.


      Divya Pandey                                                  S.L.P. dismissed.


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