Harinarayan & Ors. v. Union of India & Another

Ray, J. This appeal is by special leave from the judgment dated l3 January, 1961 of tho High Court at Patna dismissing the appeal filed by the appellants agdnst the award dated 25. May, 1956 of the Arbitrator under the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the l 952 Act). E The appellants' mother purcha.!00 the property known as "the Crove" situate on Station Road at Patna on 18 September, 1944. The appellants' mother thereafter made a trust deed i;, the year I 946 in respect of the property in favour of the appellants. The property was requisitioned by the Government of India with effect from 17 July, 1942 under Rule 75(A) of the Defence of bdia Rules. The Government was in possession of the property until the Government decided to a:quire the property in the year 1953. The Central Govc:rnment )!ave notice under section 7 of the-1952 Act to acquire the property. The property was acquired in 1953. The Government thereafter offernd to the appellants a sum of Rs. 2.47,990/- ns a valuation of the property acquired. The :1ppellants claimed Rs. 18,00,000/- as the valuation. Under section 8(1) of the 1952 Act the Government appointed th~ District Judge, Patna as the sore Arbitrator to determine the :unount of compensation payable to the appellants in respect of the property. The Arbitrator held that in view of the provisions contained in sections 23 and 24 of the 1952 Act the provisions of 'ection 8(3)(b) of the 1952 Act would apply for determination of compensation payable for acquisition of the property. 11 t HARINARAYAN v. UNION (Ray, J.) 961 The appellants preferred an appeal against award of the Arbi­ trator. Section 11• of the 1952 Act provided for such appeal. The High Court hdd that section 8(3)(b) of the 1952 Act applied and upheld. the award of the Arbitrator. The question which falls for consideration in this appeal is whether the compensation would be determined under clause (a) or (b) of sub-section(~) of section 8 cf the 1952 Act. The rele­ vant provisi9ns are set out hereunder :- "8(3). The compensation payable for the acquisition of any property under section 7 shall be-- (3) the price which the requisitioned property would have fetched in the open market, if it had remained in the same condition as it was at the time of requisi(ioning and been sold on the date of acquisition, or (b) twice the price which the requisitioned property would have fetched in the open market if it had been sold on the date of acquisition. whichever is less*. Counsel for the appellants raised these contentions. The Defence of India Act, 1939 and the Rules made thereunder ceased to be effective on 14 February, 1946. · There was no order of requisition under the 1952 Act. For the purpose of determination of compensation of the property under the 1952 Act the property could at best be held to be requisitioneo: when the 1952 Act came into existence. It was erroneous to treat the property to be re­ quisitioned under the 1952 Act. The essence of the appellant's contention is that the year of requisition should be 1952 when the 1952 Act came into effect. This contention is unsound. The Requisitioned Land (Continu­ anee of Powers) Ordinance, 1946 (Ordinance No. XIX of 1946) provided in section 3 thereof that ·"notwithstanding the expiration of the Defence of India Act, 1939 and the Rules made thereunder, all requisitioned lands shall continue to be subject to requisition until the expiry of this Ordinance and the appropriate Government may use or deal with any requisitioned land in such manner as may appear to it to be expedient; provided that the appropriate Govern­ ment may at any time release from requisition any requisitioned land". The property continued to be in possession of the Govern­ ment under orders of requisition da(ed 17 July, 1942. The pro­ perty W<~ not released from requisition. '11! is manifest from Ordi­ nance No. XIX of 1946 that the propertv which was requisitioned under the Defence of India Act continued to be subiect to requisi­ tion in spite of the expiry of the Defence of Tndia Act. i "_:_Lt 72Sup.Cl/73 Thereafter the Requisitioned Land (Continuance of Powers) Act, 1947 came in place of Ordinance No. XIX of 1946. The Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Orclinance 1952 came into effect on repeal of the 1947 Act. Finally, the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 came into existence in place of the 1952 Ordinance. These various provisions and in particular section 24(2) of the 1952 Act show that the property became deemed to be property requisitioned nnder section 3 of the Act. Just as Ordinance No. XIX of 1946 con- tinued the acquisition of property, similarly the subsequent provi- sions under the 1947 Act, the 1952 Ordinance and eventually the 1952 Act continued the requisition. The power to acquire requisitioned property is to be found in section 7 of the 1952 Act. In view of the fact that the property was subject to requisition the Government desired to acquire the property in the year 1953. The property was acquired on 11 Septetrber, 1953 under the 1952 Act. The appellants became entitled to compensation under section 8 of the 1952 Act. The two clauses (a) and (b) of section 8 ( 3) of the 1952 Act provide the alternative methods for compensation for acquisition of property. In Union of India v. Kamlabhai Harjiwandas Parek/J & Otlzers('') this Court held that the mode of determination of coi. - pensation prescribed in section 8 ( 3) (b) of the 1952 Act is arbitra­ tory and bad. The result is that the award which was made in the present case purcuant to the provisions contained in section 8(3)(b) of the 1952 Act cannot be sustained. The appellants will t"de- fore be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisiom contained in section 8(3) of t11e 1952 Act. It may be stated that in 1968 by an amendment clause (b) of section 8 (3) of the 1952 Act was deleted. The 1968 Amendment has preserved clause (a) of section 8(3) of the 1952 Act by deleting clause (a) and number­ ing it as sub-section (3) of sec\ion 8. Counsel on behalf of the Government contended that though section 8(3)(b) of the 1952 Act was applied by the Arbitrator, in substance the Arbitrator gave effect to the provisions of clause (a) of section 8(3) of the 1952. Act. The award does not say so .. On the contrary, the award is expressly made under the provisions of section 8(3)(b) of the 1952 Act.· The contention of the Govern- ment therefore fails. For these reasons, the judgment of the High Court which up­ held the award of the Arbitrator is set aside. The Government will have to act in accordance with the provisions contained in H t section 8 for determining compensation payable to the appellants. " (I) [1968] I s.c.R. 463. HARINARAYAN v. UNION (Ray, J.) If the parties will not be able to reach an agreement as ~ the amount of compensation th() Central Government shall appoint an Arbitrator as contemplated in section 8 of the 1952 Act for deter­ mining the compensation payable to the appellants. The appellants will be entitled to cos_ts of this appeal. G.C. Appeal Allowed. '