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Shahid Jamal v. State of U.P.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 74Decided 30 Jan 2018
Civil Appeal No. 1349 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

The appellants' land was acquired and an Award passed in March 1999, but compensation was paid, and received under protest, only in April 1999 without a copy of the Award being furnished to them. The appellants sought a reference to the Reference Court under Section 18 for enhancement of compensation, but the High Court dismissed their writ petition, holding their formal application (dated December 1999) was filed beyond the six-month limitation period that U.P. law prescribes for such references.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found the High Court had overlooked that the appellants had already made a specific written request for a Section 18 reference on 24 July 1999, well within six months of receiving compensation, and that the Land Acquisition Officer's own September 1999 letter confirmed a certified copy of the Award still had not been furnished to them at that stage. The Court held this July 1999 request should be treated as the proper application for reference, directed the Land Acquisition Collector to make the reference within four weeks and the Reference Court to decide it within three months, but also invoked its Article 142 powers to deny the appellants interest on any future enhancement for the period between April 1999 and the 2012 filing of the SLP, in the interest of fairness given the delay.

Lesson Learnt

A landowner's informal but clear written request for a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, made within the limitation period, can itself satisfy the limitation requirement even if a more detailed, formally-grounded application follows later, especially where the authorities themselves delayed supplying the certified Award copy needed to frame detailed grounds.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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