LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI AND ANR.versusSURESH B. KAPUR & ORS.

832                      [2022]REPORTS
               SUPREME COURT   15 S.C.R. 832              [2022] 15 S.C.R.


A       LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI
                          AND ANR.
                                       v.
                        SURESH B. KAPUR & ORS.
B                       (Civil Appeal No. 8197 of 2022)
                            DECEMBER 02, 2022
                [M. R. SHAH AND M. M. SUNDRESH, JJ.]
            Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
      Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013: s.24(2) –
C
      Land Acquisition Act, 1894 – Respondent no.1 filed the writ petition
      before the High Court for declaring that the acquisition of lands in
      question deemed to be lapsed under s.24(2) of the Act, 2013 on the
      ground that neither possession of the land taken over nor the
      compensation has been paid – High Court noted that compensation
D     has been deposited with the court but the possession of the land in
      question is not taken over – High Court allowed the petition and
      declared the acquisition proceedings to be lapsed – On appeal,
      held: The issue was settled by the Constitutional Bench of Supreme
      Court in Indore Development Authority Vs. Manoharlal and Ors. which
      was not considered by High Court – The acquisition proceedings
E
      were under the subject matter of litigation due to which authorities
      were unable to take the possession of the lands – Such non taking
      of possession cannot be in favour of the landowners – Acquisition
      proceedings should not deemed to be lapsed – Judgment passed by
      High Court set aside.
F
            Allowing the appeal, the Court
            HELD: The High Court has not appreciated the reasons
      why the authority could not take the possession. The acquisition
      proceedings were under challenge before the High Court as well
      as thereafter before this Court. The acquisition proceedings have
G     attained finality pursuant to the judgment and order passed by
      this Court. Therefore, the acquisition proceedings were under
      challenge and the subject matter of litigation. Therefore, when
      the acquisition proceedings were the subject matter of litigation
      and because of that the authority could not take the possession
H     of the lands in question and as such not taking over the
                                     832
 LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI v.                              833
         SURESH B. KAPUR [M. R. SHAH, J.]

possession cannot be in favour of the landowners, more                         A
particularly, when the acquisition proceedings have been appealed
upto this Court. [Paras 6.2]
      Indore Development Authority v. Manoharlal and Ors.
      (2020) 8 SCC 129 : [2020] 3 SCR 1 – Followed.
      Balak Ram Glupta v. Union of India Writ Petition No.                     B
      1639 of 1985; Gyanender Singh v. Union of India &
      Ors. W.P. (C) No. 1393 of 2014; Pune Municipal
      Corporation and Anr. v. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki
      and Ors. (2014) 3 SCC 183 : [2014] 1 SCR 783 –
      referred to.                                                             C
                         Case Law Reference
[2014] 1 SCR 783                  referred to            Para 2.4
[2020] 3 SCR 1                    followed                Para 3
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 8197                      D
of 2022.
      From the Judgment and Order dated 06.07.2015 of the High Court
of Delhi at New Delhi in Writ Petition (C) No. 2163 of 2015.
      Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, Adv. for the Appellants.
                                                                               E
       Rishab Nagar, Raghab Nagar, Gopal Singh Chauhan, Deepak Goel,
Rajiv Ghawana, Ms. Akshita Chhatwal, Ranjit Singh, T. V. S. Raghavendra
Sreyas, Ms. Gayatri Gulati, Siddharth Vasudev, Ms. Sunieta Ojha, Akansh
Singh, Ravi Bharuka, Ankit Agarwal, Nitin Mishra, Ishaan Sharma, Advs.
for the Respondents.
                                                                               F
      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
      M. R. SHAH, J.
       1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment
and order passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in Writ Petition
(C) No. 2163 of 2015 by which the High Court has allowed the said writ         G
petition preferred by the respondent No. 1 herein – original writ petitioner
and has declared that the acquisition with respect to the lands in question
is deemed to have lapsed by virtue of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
                                                                               H
834             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2022] 15 S.C.R.


A     Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as “Act, 2013”), the
      Land Acquisition Collector has preferred the present appeal.
             2. That the dispute is with respect to the land comprised in Khasra
      Nos. 717 (3-02), 718/1 (3-05), 756/2/1 (2-17) and 757/1 (3-07) measuring
      12 bighas and 11 biswas in village Chattarpur, New Delhi. A notification
B     under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred
      to as “Act, 1894”) was issued on 25.11.1980, which was followed by
      declaration under Section 6 of the Act, 1894 issued vide notification/
      declaration dated 07.06.1985.
              2.1 It appears that under the said acquisition proceedings some
C     affected parties challenged the same before the High Court by way of
      filing Writ Petition No. 1639 of 1985 titled “Balak Ram Gupta Vs.
      Union of India”, which batch of petitions were allowed by the High
      Court vide judgment and order dated 18.11.1988 and the declaration
      under Section 6 of the Act, 1894 was quashed. That during the period,
      this Court while dealing with the impugned acquisition proceedings in
D     the case of Union of India Vs. Gurdeep Singh Uban held that the
      relief of the judgment pronounced in Balak Ram Gupta (supra) would
      be applicable only to the petitioners therein and it would not be a judgment
      in rem. This Court further held in Gurdeep Singh Uban (supra) that
      quashing of notification in Balak Ram Gupta (supra) cannot be treated
E     as quashing of the entire proceedings.
            2.2 It appears that after the pronouncement of the judgment in
      Gurdeep Singh Uban (supra) sometimes in August, 1999, few of the
      landowners again filed writ petitions challenging therein the acquisition
      proceedings. The High Court dismissed the said writ petitions vide
F     judgment and order dated 19.05.2005. That during the period, the then
      Land Acquisition Collector passed an award. The judgment and order
      passed by the High Court in the case of Gurdeep Singh Uban (supra)
      dated 19.05.2005 was challenged by the landowners before this Court
      by way of Special Leave Petition (C) No. 26537 of 2005. This Court
      dismissed the said special leave petition vide judgment and order dated
G     08.02.2010. That thereafter the authority deposited the compensation
      with respect to the land in question with the Court on 30.12.2013.
             2.3 That thereafter the respondent No. 1 – original writ petitioner
      filed the writ petition before the High Court in the month of February,
      2015 for a declaration that the acquisition with respect to the lands in
H
 LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI v.                               835
         SURESH B. KAPUR [M. R. SHAH, J.]

question is deemed to have lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013          A
contending inter alia that neither the possession of the land in question
has been taken over nor the compensation has been paid.
      2.4 By the impugned judgment and order, though, the High Court
has specifically noted that the compensation has been deposited with
the Court, but the possession of the land in question is not taken over and     B
relying upon its earlier decision in the case of Gyanender Singh Vs.
Union of India & Ors., W.P. (C) No. 1393 of 2014 decided on
23.09.2014 by which the High Court took the view that unless and until
the compensation is tendered to the persons interested, mere deposit of
the compensation in Court would not be sufficient and cannot be regarded
as having been paid. Relying upon the decision of this Court in the case        C
of Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr. Vs. Harakchand
Misirimal Solanki and Ors., (2014) 3 SCC 183, the High Court by
the impugned judgment and order has allowed the said writ petition and
has declared that the acquisition with respect to the land in question is
deemed to have lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013. The                 D
impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is the subject
matter of the present appeal.
      3. Ms. Sujeeta Srivastava, learned counsel appearing on behalf of
the appellant has vehemently submitted that the impugned judgment and
order passed by the High Court is just contrary to the decision of the          E
Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Indore Development
Authority Vs. Manoharlal and Ors., (2020) 8 SCC 129.
       3.1 It is submitted that in the present case and even as noted by
the High Court, the compensation with respect to the land in question
was deposited in the Court. It is submitted that therefore once the             F
compensation was deposited in the Court, one of the conditions mentioned
in Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013 is satisfied and therefore, the acquisition
with respect to the lands in question could not have been declared as
deemed to have lapsed.
      3.2 It is further submitted that even otherwise, the Hon’ble High         G
Court has failed to appreciate that the acquisition proceedings were under
challenge, which came to be appealed upto this Hon’ble Court. It is
submitted that therefore, because of the pendency of the proceedings
challenging the land acquisition proceedings, the possession could not be
taken over and the benefit of that could not be given to the landowners.
                                                                                H
836             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2022] 15 S.C.R.


A     It is submitted that the aforesaid aspect ought to have been considered
      by the High Court while passing the impugned judgment and order.
            3.3 It is submitted that the decision of this Court in the case of
      Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr. (supra) has been subsequently
      overruled by the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Indore
B     Development Authority (supra).
            3.4 Making above submissions, it is prayed to allow the present
      appeal.
             4. Present appeal is vehemently opposed by Shri Rajiv Ghawana,
      learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 1 – original
C     writ petitioner.
            4.1 It is submitted that even as mentioned in the counter filed on
      behalf of the appellant, the possession of the land in question was not
      taken over. It is submitted that as rightly observed by the Hon’ble High
      Court that unless and until the possession is taken, the compensation
D     even if it is lying deposited in a Court or in any designated account
      maintained, would not come to the aid of the appellant/authority.
             4.2 It is further submitted that the decision of the Delhi High Court
      in the case of Gyanender Singh (supra), which has been relied upon
      by the High Court while passing the impugned judgment and order, the
E     appeal against the same has been dismissed by this Court vide order
      dated 31.08.2016.
             4.3 It is further submitted that the original writ petitioner was
      never offered or tendered the compensation by the Land Acquisition
      Collector. It is submitted that the Land Acquisition Collector has failed
F     to disclose whether the respondent No. 1 was offered compensation by
      the land Acquisition Collector at any point of time and whether it was
      paid to him or not.
             4.4 It is submitted that therefore when neither the possession was
      taken over nor the compensation was actually paid to the respondent
G     No. 1 – original writ petitioner, the Hon’ble High Court has not committed
      any error in declaring the acquisition with respect to the land in question
      is deemed to have lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013.
             5. We have heard the learned counsel for the respective parties
      at length.
H
 LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI v.                            837
         SURESH B. KAPUR [M. R. SHAH, J.]

       6. We have gone through the impugned judgment and order passed        A
by the High Court. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court
has declared that the acquisition with respect to the lands in question is
deemed to have lapsed under Section 24(2) of the Act, 2013 solely on
the ground that the possession of the lands in question has not been
taken over. From the impugned judgment and order passed by the High
                                                                             B
Court, it appears that though it was the case on behalf of the authority
that the compensation was deposited in the Court, thereafter, the High
Court has declared that the acquisition deemed to be lapsed by observing
that the question of compensation lying deposited in the Court only arise
in a case where possession has been taken over. That thereafter the
High Court relying upon its earlier decision in the case of Gyanender        C
Singh (supra), in which the High Court held that unless and until the
compensation is tendered to the persons interested, mere deposit of the
compensation in Court would not be sufficient and cannot be regarded
as having been paid.
       6.1 By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has            D
declared the acquisition as deemed to have lapsed, however, it is required
to be noted that the decision of the High Court in the case of Gyanender
Singh (supra) and even the view taken by the High Court in the impugned
judgment and order is just contrary to the decision of the Constitution
Bench of this Court in the case of Indore Development Authority
(supra). In paragraphs 365 and 366, the Constitution Bench of this Court     E
has observed and held as under:-
            “365. Resultantly, the decision rendered in Pune Municipal
      Corpn. [Pune Municipal Corpn. v. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki,
      (2014) 3 SCC 183] is hereby overruled and all other decisions in
      which Pune Municipal Corpn. [Pune Municipal Corpn. v.                  F
      Harakchand Misirimal Solanki, (2014) 3 SCC 183] has been
      followed, are also overruled. The decision in Sree Balaji Nagar
      Residential Assn. [Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Assn. v. State
      of T.N., (2015) 3 SCC 353] cannot be said to be laying down
      good law, is overruled and other decisions following the same are      G
      also overruled. In Indore Development Authority v. Shailendra
      [(2018) 3 SCC 412], the aspect with respect to the proviso to
      Section 24(2) and whether “or” has to be read as “nor” or as
      “and” was not placed for consideration. Therefore, that decision
      too cannot prevail, in the light of the discussion in the present
      judgment.                                                              H
838      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2022] 15 S.C.R.


A           366. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we answer the
      questions as under:
             366.1. Under the provisions of Section 24(1)(a) in case the
      award is not made as on 1-1-2014, the date of commencement of
      the 2013 Act, there is no lapse of proceedings. Compensation has
B     to be determined under the provisions of the 2013 Act.
             366.2. In case the award has been passed within the
      window period of five years excluding the period covered by an
      interim order of the court, then proceedings shall continue as
      provided under Section 24(1)(b) of the 2013 Act under the 1894
C     Act as if it has not been repealed.
             366.3. The word “or” used in Section 24(2) between
      possession and compensation has to be read as “nor” or as “and”.
      The deemed lapse of land acquisition proceedings under Section
      24(2) of the 2013 Act takes place where due to inaction of
D     authorities for five years or more prior to commencement of the
      said Act, the possession of land has not been taken nor
      compensation has been paid. In other words, in case possession
      has been taken, compensation has not been paid then there is no
      lapse. Similarly, if compensation has been paid, possession has
      not been taken then there is no lapse.
E
             366.4. The expression “paid” in the main part of Section
      24(2) of the 2013 Act does not include a deposit of compensation
      in court. The consequence of non-deposit is provided in the proviso
      to Section 24(2) in case it has not been deposited with respect to
      majority of landholdings then all beneficiaries (landowners) as on
F     the date of notification for land acquisition under Section 4 of the
      1894 Act shall be entitled to compensation in accordance with the
      provisions of the 2013 Act. In case the obligation under Section
      31 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 has not been fulfilled, interest
      under Section 34 of the said Act can be granted. Non-deposit of
G     compensation (in court) does not result in the lapse of land
      acquisition proceedings. In case of non-deposit with respect to
      the majority of holdings for five years or more, compensation under
      the 2013 Act has to be paid to the “landowners” as on the date of
      notification for land acquisition under Section 4 of the 1894 Act.

H
LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR (SOUTH), NEW DELHI v.                            839
        SURESH B. KAPUR [M. R. SHAH, J.]

             366.5. In case a person has been tendered the compensation     A
      as provided under Section 31(1) of the 1894 Act, it is not open to
      him to claim that acquisition has lapsed under Section 24(2) due
      to non-payment or non-deposit of compensation in court. The
      obligation to pay is complete by tendering the amount under Section
      31(1). The landowners who had refused to accept compensation
                                                                            B
      or who sought reference for higher compensation, cannot claim
      that the acquisition proceedings had lapsed under Section 24(2)
      of the 2013 Act.
             366.6. The proviso to Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act is to
      be treated as part of Section 24(2), not part of Section 24(1)(b).
                                                                            C
             366.7. The mode of taking possession under the 1894 Act
      and as contemplated under Section 24(2) is by drawing of inquest
      report/memorandum. Once award has been passed on taking
      possession under Section 16 of the 1894 Act, the land vests in
      State there is no divesting provided under Section 24(2) of the
      2013 Act, as once possession has been taken there is no lapse         D
      under Section 24(2).
             366.8. The provisions of Section 24(2) providing for a
      deemed lapse of proceedings are applicable in case authorities
      have failed due to their inaction to take possession and pay
      compensation for five years or more before the 2013 Act came          E
      into force, in a proceeding for land acquisition pending with the
      authority concerned as on 1-1-2014. The period of subsistence of
      interim orders passed by court has to be excluded in the
      computation of five years.
             366.9. Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act does not give rise to     F
      new cause of action to question the legality of concluded
      proceedings of land acquisition. Section 24 applies to a proceeding
      pending on the date of enforcement of the 2013 Act i.e. 1-1-2014.
      It does not revive stale and time-barred claims and does not reopen
      concluded proceedings nor allow landowners to question the            G
      legality of mode of taking possession to reopen proceedings or
      mode of deposit of compensation in the treasury instead of court
      to invalidate acquisition.”
      In the case of Indore Development Authority (supra), the
decision of this Court in the case of Pune Municipal Corporation and
Anr. (supra) has been specifically overruled.                               H
840              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2022] 15 S.C.R.


A            6.2 Now, so far as the submission on behalf of the respondent
      No. 1 – original writ petitioner that the decision of the High Court in the
      case of Gyanender Singh (supra), which has been relied upon by the
      High Court while passing the impugned judgment and order, against which,
      special leave petition has been dismissed by this Court is concerned, at
      the outset, it is required to be noted that at the relevant time when the
B
      appeal was dismissed by this Court, the issue was not settled, which has
      been settled by the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Indore
      Development Authority (supra). Under the circumstances, no reliance
      can be placed upon the decision of the High Court in the case of
      Gyanender Singh (supra) and/or dismissal of the appeal against the
C     said order in light of the decision of this Court in the case of Indore
      Development Authority (supra). Even the High Court has also not
      appreciated the reasons why the authority could not take the possession.
      The acquisition proceedings were under challenge before the High Court
      as well as thereafter before this Court. The acquisition proceedings have
      attained finality pursuant to the judgment and order passed by this Court.
D
      Therefore, the acquisition proceedings were under challenge and the
      subject matter of litigation. Therefore, when the acquisition proceedings
      were the subject matter of litigation and because of that the authority
      could not take the possession of the lands in question and as such not
      taking over the possession cannot be in favour of the landowners, more
E     particularly, when the acquisition proceedings have been appealed upto
      this Court.
             7. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above and
      more particularly, in view of the decision of the Constitution Bench of
      this Court in the case of Indore Development Authority (supra), the
F     view taken by the High Court in the impugned judgment and order is
      unsustainable. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High
      Court deserves to be quashed and set aside and is accordingly quashed
      and set aside.
             Present appeal is accordingly allowed. No costs.
             Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.
G

      Devika Gujral                                                Appeal allowed.
      (Assisted by : Shevali Monga, LCRA)




H