Gujarat High Court
Jamaniben Parbatbhai Khod vs The State Of Gujarat on 7 January, 2025
Author: Sunita Agarwal
Bench: Sunita Agarwal
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 16969 of 2024
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JAMANIBEN PARBATBHAI KHOD & ORS.
Versus
THE STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR Y J PATEL(3985) for the Petitioner(s) No.
1,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,2,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
MR. NARENDRASINH ZALA(14072) for the Petitioner(s) No.
1,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,2,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
MS. HETAL PATEL, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 1,3
MR. KM ANTANI(6547) for the Respondent(s) No. 2,4
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CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE
SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI
Date : 07/01/2025
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL) [1] In compliance of the order dated 02.12.2024 passed by us in Special Civil Application No.16200 of 2024, a copy of the Government Resolution dated 02.01.2025 issued from the Revenue Department, Secretariat, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar in the matter of grant of statutory interest under Section 80 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (for short, "the Act, 2013") has been placed before us by Ms. Hetal Patel, learned Assistant Government Pleader appearing for the State Respondents.
[2] The present petition herein is filed with regard to denial of statutory interest under Section 80 of the Act, 2013, while making Page 1 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined the award passed after enforcement of the Act, 2013 with effect from 01.01.2014.
[3] The issue raised in the writ petition is that the landholders / petitioners have been deprived of their agricultural lands without adopting due process of law. The possession of the lands in question had been taken much prior to the enforcement of the Act, 2013 with effect from 01.01.2014 without undertaking the due process of acquisition. After resistance of the petitioners, the acquisition proceedings were undertaken and the award was declared by application of the provisions of the Act, 2013. All other elements of compensation though have been computed, as per own case of the petitioners in accordance with the provisions of the Act, 2013, but statutory interest under Section 80 of the Act, 2013 has been denied and in place of statutory interest of 09% and 15% under Section 80 of the Act, 2013, by applying a Government Resolution No. LAQ / 1084 / PRP / GH dated 18.06.1986, only 09% interest for delayed payment of compensation has been determined in the form of rental value of the lands in question. In some of the matters, even 09% interest on the compensation amount has been denied.
[4] Be that as it may, in many of the matters earlier, we have passed a positive order directing the competent authority to recompute compensation by providing benefit of Section 80 of the Act, 2013 and after re-computation, the 09% interest as rent, if paid, was directed to be adjusted. One of such orders dated 04.09.2024 passed in Special Civil Application No.12542 of 2024 has been placed before us by the learned Assistant Government Pleader as a reminder.
Page 2 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined [5] However, when we faced with the repeated writ petitions being filed in the Court raising identical issues of denial of statutory interest under Section 80 of the Act, 2013 inspite of our order dated 04.09.2024 even in some later award, we were constrained to pass the order dated 02.12.2024, whereby we required the Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat to look into the issue and take a call. We left it to the wisdom of the concerned officer to go through the provisions of the Act, 2013 and decide as to whether non-inclusion of Section 80 interest at the time of making award under the Act, 2013 would result in denial of statutory benefit to the landholders. And if that be so, proper instructions were required to be issued by the concerned officers to rectify the mistake, which is being committed repeatedly.
[6] On these directions, we have received the copy of the Government Resolution No. RD / LAQ / e-file / 15 / 2024 / 5286 / GH dated 02.01.2025, which reads as under:-
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To pay interest as per provisions of Section-80 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Government of Gujarat Revenue Department Circular No. RD/LAQ/e-file/15/2024/5286/GH Sachivalay, Gandhinagar Date: 02/01/2025 Preamble:-
Page 3 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined As the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 is in force at present w.e.f. 01/01/2014, land acquisition is carried out under the said Act. Provision is made in Section-80 of this Act that from the date of possession till non- payment of compensation, interest at the rate of nine per cent shall be payable for the first year and thereafter, interest at the rate of fifteen per cent per annum shall be paid per year until the payment of compensation. Considering the fact that provision is made in the said act regarding not taking advance possession, the following instructions are circulated. Circular:-
1. Considering the provision of Section-38 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the Collector/ Land Acquisition Officer shall make sure that the possession of land under acquisition shall be taken only after the procedure of land acquisition is over and only after the entire amount of compensation is paid to the tenure holder.
2. Before undertaking acquisition procedure under the said Act - 2013, the Acquiring Institute shall not take possession of the land under acquisition from the tenure holder.
3. If the possession of the land under acquisition has been taken before 01/01/2014 before the said Act - 2013 came into force and if land acquisition procedure has been carried out under the said Act - 2013, then provision of Section-80 shall be applicable in such cases.
4. In cases wherein land acquisition procedure has been carried out after taking advance possession of the land after the said Act - 2013 came into force, then also the provision of Section-80 shall be applicable.
5. As per provision of Section - 80 of the said Act - 2013, from the date of possession till non-payment of compensation, interest at the rate of nine per cent shall be payable for the first year and thereafter, simple interest at the rate of fifteen per cent per annum shall be paid until the payment of compensation.
6. In the cases wherein land acquisition procedure has been carried out as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the provisions of Resolution No. LAQ/1084/525/Gh, dated 18/06/1986 of the Revenue Department, shall not be applicable.
By order and in the name of the Governor of Gujarat.
Sd/-
(Prerak Patel) Deputy Secretary Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat.
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NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined [7] Having gone through the Government Resolution dated 02.01.2025, we find that the issue, which was bothering the landholders and the Court for a long time have been set at rest. The directions have been issued to the concerned officers to strictly comply with the provisions of the Act, 2013 by providing interest under Section 80 of the Act, 2013 and a clarification has also been given to the effect that the Government Resolution No. LAQ / 1084 / PRP / GH dated 18.06.1986 will not be applicable in case of the awards made under the Act, 2013.
[8] Taking note of the above, we dispose of the present writ petition with the directions that the competent Land Acquisition Officers shall make re-computation by applying the benefit of statutory interest of 09% and 15% prescribed under Section 80 of the Act, 2013, in the case of writ petitioners herein by passing order. The statutory interest under Section 80 of the Act, 2013 is to be recomputed on the total amount of compensation, which includes the market value, solatium as well as additional interest and all other elements of compensation as provided under the Act, 2013. The re- computation of benefits as per the directions given above shall be made by the concerned authority within a period of two months from today.
[9] In cases where rent at the rate of 09% per annum has been awarded as interest over the compensation amount, the said amount shall be adjusted towards the fresh computation to be made under the above directions. The interest / balance amount shall be paid to the petitioners / landholders within a period of ten weeks from the Page 5 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined date of the decision for re-computation by the competent authorities, after due verification of the entitlement of the landholders / applicant before them.
[10] Before parting with this order, we may also record that with the issuance of the Government Resolution dated 02.01.2025, the cloud in the matter of due computation of the compensation under the Act, 2013 by application of the statutory interest under Section 80 of the said Act, 2013 has been cleared with the clarification that the Government Resolution No. LAQ / 1084 / PRP / GH dated 18.06.1986 will not be applicable in all those cases where awards have been made under the Act, 2013. We, therefore, provide that in those similar cases, where the competent authority / Collector receives application for re-computation or revision of the award by providing benefit of Section 80 of the Act, 2013, all such applications shall be dealt by applying the Government Resolution No. RD / LAQ / e-file / 15 / 2024 / 5286 / GH dated 02.01.2025 and the directions issued by us in the order dated 04.09.2024 in Special Civil Application No.12542 of 2024, where we have opined that the statutory interest under Section 80 is applicable to all such cases where awards are made under the Act, 2013. In all such cases, we hope and trust that the competent authorities will deal with the matters at their ends expeditiously and would not force the applicants to approach this Court, by sitting tight over the matter thereby causing unnecessary burden of litigation to this Court.
[11] The competent authority shall also keep in mind that the re- computation by application of Section 80 interest and the disbursement of the revised amount is to be made to the landholders Page 6 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/16969/2024 ORDER DATED: 07/01/2025 undefined including the petitioners herein at the earliest, or else, any delays would entail financial burden upon the acquiring body, inasmuch as, interest of 15% would continue to accrue till the date of payment.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, C.J.) (PRANAV TRIVEDI, J.) DHARMENDRA KUMAR Page 7 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Tue Jan 21 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Jan 31 23:22:45 IST 2025