Himachal Pradesh High Court
Kirpa Ram Thakur & Ors vs State Of H.P. & Others on 31 May, 2023
Bench: Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Virender Singh
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT
SHIMLA
CWP No. 6371 of 2020
.
Decided on : 31.5.2023
Kirpa Ram Thakur & ors
...Petitioners
Versus
State of H.P. & others
...Respondents
____________________________________________________
Coram
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Virender Singh, Judge
Whether approved for reporting? No
________________________________________________
For the petitioners : Mr. Sanjeev Bhushan,
Senior Advocate with Mr.
Rajesh Kumar, Advocate.
For the respondents : Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate
General with Mr. I.N. Mehta,
Senior Additional Advocate
General, Mr. Ramakant
Sharma, Additional
Advocate General and Ms.
Priyanka Chauhan, Deputy
Advocate General, for
respondentsÂState.
Mr. Vikas Rajput, Advocate,
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for respondent No. 4.
Mr. Deepak Kaushal, Senior
Advocate with Mr.Abhishek
Verma, Advocate, for
.
respondents No. 5 and 6.
Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge (oral):
The instant petition has been filed for grant of the following substantive reliefs:
"(I) That appropriate writ order or direction may very kindly be issued and the impugned notification dated 13.01.2020 (Annexure P-1) may very kindly be quashed and set aside, in the interest of law and justice.
(ii) That appropriate writ order or direction may very kindly be issued directing the respondents not to acquire the land belonging to the petitioners, as the same does not serve any public purpose."
2. Today, the respondents have placed on record instructions dated 31.5.2023, wherein it has been clearly stated that the department need not to acquire the land and it is for the Himachal Road Transport Corporation to decide whether it needs to acquire the land or not. The instructions are taken on record.
::: Downloaded on - 02/06/2023 20:30:45 :::CIS 33. It needs to be observed that the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, on its own, cannot acquire the land and it is only through the agency .
of State, like HPPWD or the Land Acquisition Collector that could have acquired the land in question.
4. The manner in which the Regional Manager, HRTC, Sarkaghat all by himself has abused his position by asking the Executive Engineer, HPPWD to widen the road, leaves much to desire.
5. To say the least, the Regional Manager, HRTC, Sarkaghat had no competence, muchless authority to have written such letter, at the first place. The manner, in which thereafter, the HPPWD has proceeded to issue a notification under Section 11 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 also leaves much to desire, after all in how many cases has the HPPWD ::: Downloaded on - 02/06/2023 20:30:45 :::CIS 4 acceded to the request made by the HRTC. The respondents would be well advised to place their respective houses in order and ensure that such .
kind of matters do not reach the Court.
6. Consequently, the present petition is allowed and notification dated 13.1.2020 (Annexure P-3) is quashed and set aside. The pending application(s), if any, are also disposed of.
7. Let a copy of this order be sent to the Chief Secretary, Government of H.P. (Tarlok Singh Chauhan) Judge (Virender Singh) Judge 31.5.2023 (kalpana) ::: Downloaded on - 02/06/2023 20:30:45 :::CIS