NINGAPPA THOTAPPA ANGADI (DEAD) THROUGH LRS.versusTHE SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER AND ANOTHER

                        [2019] 15 S.C.R. 37                             37


  NINGAPPA THOTAPPA ANGADI (DEAD) THROUGH LRS.                          A
                                 v.
      THE SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER AND
                      ANOTHER
                  (Civil Appeal No. 9415 of 2019)                       B
                       DECEMBER 13, 2019
  [S. A. BOBDE, CJI, B. R. GAVAI AND SURYA KANT, JJ.]
       Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – ss.4(1), 6(1), 17(1), (4) & 18 –
Long delay in filing SLP – Grant of enhanced compensation as
                                                                        C
granted in the case of other land owners, under the same acquisition,
who appealed against the impugned judgment expeditiously – If
permissible – Land situated in Yellapur Village, Hubli Taluka
acquired for construction of Hubli Ankola Broad Gauge Railway
Line – Land Acquisition Officer fixed the market value at the rate
of Rs.7,500/- per gunta – Aggrieved, the appellant(s) and other         D
similarly placed persons sought reference –Reference Court by
common order enhanced the compensation to Rs 25,000/- per gunta
(Rs.10,00,000/- per acre) – High Court in appeals by the Land
Acquisition Officer, modified the award passed by Reference Court
and reduced the compensation to Rs.5,10,000/- per acre – Some of
                                                                        E
the affected land owners filed Special Leave Petition(s) and Supreme
Court vide judgment dtd. 11.11.16 passed in Civil Appeal No.2927/
2010 allowed their appeals restoring the compensation of
Rs.10,00,000/- per acre in their case, as awarded by the Reference
Court – Present appellant(s) who was/were also aggrieved by the
impugned judgment of the High Court did not file the appeal along       F
with other similarly situated land owners – Present appeal filed
with delay of 2928 days – Held: Delay condoned – It is undeniable
that Supreme Court vide judgment dtd. 11.11.16 passed in C.A.
No.2927/2010 (Ningappa Thotappa Angadi v. Special Land Acquisition
Officer & Anr.) set aside the order of the High Court and restored
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the compensation awarded by the Reference Court – Appellant(s)
are also similarly placed claimants and thus, entitled to seek parity
and claim the same amount of fair and just compensation as awarded
to other land owners – However, the appellant(s) are not entitled to
any interest on the enhanced compensation and statutory amount
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38            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2019] 15 S.C.R.


A    for the period of delay of 2928 days in filing the appeal – Impugned
     order passed by the High Court, set aside – Award passed by the
     Reference Court, restored – Equity.
           Partly allowing the appeal, the Court
            HELD: It is undeniable that Supreme Court vide judgment
B    dtd. 11.11.16 passed in C.A. No.2927/2010 (Ningappa Thotappa
     Angadi v. Special Land Acquisition Officer & Anr.) has set aside
     the order of the High Court and restored the compensation
     awarded by the Reference Court. The appellant(s) are also
     similarly placed claimants. They are, thus, entitled to seek parity
C    and claim the same amount of fair and just compensation as has
     been awarded to other land owners. The appellant(s) are, however,
     not entitled to seek interest for the period for which they did not
     approach this Court. The impugned order passed by the High
     Court dated 24.11.2008 in M.F.A. No. 3274/2007 is set aside and
     the award passed in favour of the appellant-claimant(s) by the
D    Reference Court is restored. However, the appellant-claimant(s)
     shall not be entitled to any interest on the enhanced compensation
     and statutory amount for the period of delay of 2928 days in filing
     the appeal. [Paras 10-12][41-F; 42-B-D]
           Dhiraj Singh (Dead) through LRs. and Others v. State
E          of Haryana and Others (2014) 14 SCC 127; Imrat Lal
           & Ors. v. Land Acquisition Collector & Ors. (2014) 14
           SCC 133; Huchanagouda v. Assistant Commissioner
           and Land Acquisition Officer 2019 SCC Online SC 990
           – relied on.
F                          Case Law Reference
     (2014) 14 SCC 127              relied on               Para 8
     (2014) 14 SCC 133              relied on               Para 9
           CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 9415
G    of 2019.
           From the Judgment and Order dated 24.11.2008 of the High Court
     of Karnataka, Circuit Bench at Dharwad in M.F.A. No. 3274 of 2007.
           S. N. Bhat, V. N. Raghupathy, Mahindarpal Gupta, Prakash
     Jadhav, Advs. for the appearing parties.
H
     NINGAPPA THOTAPPA ANGADI (DEAD) THR. LRS.                               39
    v. SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER AND ANR.

      The following Judgment of the Court was delivered :                    A
                             JUDGMENT
      1. Delay condoned. Leave granted.
      2. The instant appeal is directed against the order dated 24.11.2008
passed by High Court of Karnataka, Circuit Bench at Dharwad in M.F.A         B
No. 3274 of 2007 whereby the appeal filed by Special Land Acquisition
Officer, Hubli-Ankola against the award of the Reference Court was
allowed and the compensation for acquiring appellant’s land was reduced
from Rs.10,00,000 per acre to Rs 5,10,000/- per acre.
       3. The facts giving rise to the present controversy may be breifly    C
noted. The Special Land Acquisition Officer, Hubli, Ankola issued
Notification No. HB-LAW CR: 1/2002-2003 dated 18.4.2002 under
Section 17(4) and 4(1) of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for acquiring land
situated in Yellapur Village, Hubli Taluka for the purpose of construction
of Hubli Ankola Broad Gauge Railway Line with a further direction
restraining the affected land owners from alienating or creating charge      D
over the said land. A final notification under Section 17(1) and 6(1) of
the Act was issued on 19.10.2002 for acquiring the said land.
Subsequently, Land Acquisition Officer passed an award on 17.3.2003
with respect to the acquired land and fixed the market value at the rate
of Rs.7,500/- per gunta. Aggrieved by the Land Acquisition Officer’s         E
award, the appellant(s) and other similarly placed persons sought refence
under Section 18 of the 1894 Act seeking enhancement of compensation.
The Reference Court-cum-Principal Civil Judge, Hubli passed a common
order on 12.10.2006 and relying upon an earlier award of its own in
LAC No.44/2004 in which compensation of Rs 25,000/- per gunta had
been awarded, coupled with the fact that the acquired land in the present    F
case and the land in LAC No. 44/2004 are located in adjoining villages
and in close proximity of Hubli City, the Reference Court enhanced the
compensation to Rs 25,000/- per gunta (Rs 10,00,000/- per acre).
      4. Aggrieved by the afore-stated enhancement, the Land
Acquisition Officer preferred appeals before the High Court of Karnataka     G
contending that the acquired land was actually ‘dry land’ and that some
other modes for determining its current market value should also have
been applied. On the other hand, the claimants—affected land owners
filed cross-objections seeking enhancement of compensation to
Rs 26,000/- per gunta. The High Court of Karnataka vide impugned
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judgment dated 24.11.2008 allowed appeals filed by the Land Acquisition
40               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2019] 15 S.C.R.


A    Officer. The High Court observed that the same Land Acquisition Officer
     had acquired some other land vide preliminary notification dated
     13.05.2005 for the same public purpose and claimants/land owners in
     those proceedings entered into an agreement and a consent award was
     passed granting Rs 6,00,000/- per acre. Having noted the exampler, the
     High Court held that lands of the present claimants which were acquired
B
     3 years prior to 13.05.2005, could not be granted compensation of Rs
     26,000 per guntas. Consequently, the High Court applied the principle of
     annual depreciation @ 15% and modified the award passed by Reference
     Court and reduced the compensation to Rs. 5,10,000/- per acre.
           5. Some of the affected land owners filed Special Leave Petition(s)
C    and this Court vide judgement dated 11.11.2016 passed in Civil Appeal
     No. 2927/2010 allowed their appeal and set aside the judgment of the
     High Court insofar as the appellant(s) in the said case were concerned
     and restored the compensation of Rs 10,00,000/- per acre as awarded
     by the Reference Court.
D           6. The present appellant(s) who was/were also aggrieved by the
     impugned judgment of Karnataka High Court did not file the appeal
     along with other similarly situated land owners. He has come to this
     Court after a considerable long period seeking parity with the other
     exappropriated land owners and craves for restoration of the
E    compensation as was awarded by the Reference Court. The short
     question which, thus, falls for consideration is whether the appellant(s)
     whose predecessor-in-interest did not assail the High Court order in
     respect of the land which is subject matter of this appeal as expeditiously
     as the other land owners under the same acquisition, be allowed to get
     the same compensation despite a delay of 2928 days and if so, whether
F    they are entitled to seek interest as well?
            7. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused
     the record.
            8. We find that the issue raised in this appeal is no longer res-
G    integra. This Court in Dhiraj Singh (Dead) through LRs. and Others
     v. State of Haryana and Others1 held that:
              “14. The appellants are identically situated and there is no reason
              to meet out a different treatment to them. We also note that, while
              in these cases, the High Court had refused to condone the delay
     1
H        (2014) 14 SCC 127
        NINGAPPA THOTAPPA ANGADI (DEAD) THR. LRS.                               41
       v. SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER AND ANR.

         and dismissed the LPAs of the appellants, other LPAs were              A
         allowed by the High Court itself by condoning the delay of the
         same magnitude in the same circumstances.
         15. Equities can be balanced by denying the appellants’ interest
         for the period for which they did not approach the Court. The
         substantive rights of the appellants should not be allowed to be       B
         defeated on technical grounds by taking hypertechnical view of
         self-imposed limitations. In the matter of compensation for land
         acquisition, we are of the view that approach of the Court has to
         be pragmatic and not pedantic.
                                                        [Emphasis applied]      C
       9. The afore-cited view has been consistently followed by this
Court in a series of cases before and after the decision in Dhiraj Singh’s
(dead) case (supra). In Imrat Lal & Ors. v. Land Acquisition Collector
& Ors.2, it was observed that the delay in filing the Special Leave Petition
cannot be the reason to deny just and fair compensation to the claimants.       D
This Court observed that a liberal approach should be adopted in such
like matters. In Huchanagouda v. Assistant Commissioner and Land
Acquisition Officer3 also this Court condoned the delay and restored
parity in the matter of grant of compensation though with a condition
“that for the period of delay in filing and in refiling the Special Leave
Petitions, the appellant-claimant(s) shall not be entitled to any interest on   E
the enhanced compenation and statutory amount.”
      10. It is undeniable that this Court vide judgment dated November
11, 2016 passed in C.A. No. 2927/2010 (Ningappa Thotappa Angadi
v. Special Land Acquisition Officer & Anr.) has set aside the order of
the High Court and restored the compensation as was awarded by the              F
Reference Court. In the cited case, this Court held as follows:
         “We have heard the learned counsel for the parties to some length
         and carefully perused the material on record. We are of the
         considered opinion that the impugned judgment and order of the
         High Court deserves to be set aside and judgment and order passed      G
         by the Reference Court restored. We say so because, this Court
         has in a similar appeal directed against the very same order set
         aside the impugned judgment and restored the enhancement
2
    (2014) 14 SCC 133
3
    (2019) SCC Online SC 990                                                    H
42            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2019] 15 S.C.R.


A          granted by the Reference Court. We see no reason to take a
           different view in the present case. We, accordingly, allow this
           appeal and while setting aside the impugned judgment insofar as
           the same relates to the appellant, restore the judgment and order
           passed by the Reference Court. The parties shall, however, bear
           their own costs.”
B
            11. The appellant(s) are also similarly placed claimants. They are,
     thus, entitled to seek parity and claim the same amount of fair and just
     compensation as has been awarded to other land owners. The appellant(s)
     are, however, not entitled to seek interest for the period for which they
     did not approach this Court.
C
             12. For the reasons aforestated, the appeal is allowed in part, the
     impugned order passed by the High Court dated 24.11.2008 in M.F.A.
     No. 3274/2007 is set aside and the award passed in favour of the
     appellant-claimant(s) by the Reference Court is restored. However, the
     appellant-claimant(s) shall not be entitled to any interest on the enhanced
D    compensation and statutory amount for the period of delay of 2928 days
     in filing the appeal. Ordered accordingly.


     Divya Pandey                                           Appeal partly allowed.

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