Allahabad High Court
Smt. Praveen Srivastava vs Union Of India And 3 Others on 31 October, 2022
Author: Manoj Misra
Bench: Manoj Misra
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 29 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 22737 of 2022 Petitioner :- Smt. Praveen Srivastava Respondent :- Union Of India And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.,C.S.C.,Tanisha Jahangir Monir Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J.
Hon'ble Vikas Budhwar,J.
The grievance of the petitioner is that without offering compensation the land of the petitioner pertaining to Khata No.00972, area 0.2530 hectare, at village Kantil Tappa Chhiyanbey, Pargana Kantil, Tehsil Sadar, District Mirzapur has been utilized by the respondents.
On 30.09.2022, we had required Ms. Tanisha Jahangir Monir, learned counsel for the respondents 1 and 2, to seek instructions whether the land of the petitioner has been utilized by the respondents; if so, whether compensation has been offered to the petitioner.
Pursuant to the order dated 30.09.2022, the learned counsel for the respondents 1 and 2 has obtained written instructions and on instructions submitted that the respondents propose to utilize the land for installation of electricity transmission towers and a notice has also been issued to the petitioner on 18.07.2022 requiring her to appear with land documents including Adhar Card and Bank details to enable payment of compensation. The said notice also discloses that the proposed work is in connection with a project of national importance and there is no proposal to acquire the land though the land owner would be provided compensation. Our attention was invited to Chapter IV of the Railways Act, 1989.
We have gone through the provisions of the Railways Act, 1989. Chapter IV of the Railways Act, 1989 deals with constructions and maintenance of works. Section 11 empowers the railway administration to execute all necessary works which may include installation of electric supply lines. Section 15 of the Railway Act, 1989 provides that no suit shall lie against the railway administration to recover any amount for any damage or loss caused in the exercise of the powers conferred by any of the foregoing provisions of this Chapter. Sub-section (2) of Section 15 provides that railway administration shall pay or tender payment for any damage or loss caused in the exercise of the powers conferred by any of the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, and in case of a dispute as to the sufficiency of any amount so paid or tendered or as to the persons entitled to receive the amount, the dispute shall be referred for the decision of the District Judge of the district concerned and his decision thereon shall be final.
As the petitioner has not questioned the utilization of the land but only claims for compensation in this petition, we are of the view that the petitioner may submit her claim before the competent authority in pursuance of the notice dated 18.07.2022, which has been appended to the written instructions obtained by the respondents' counsel. To facilitate the claim we deem it appropriate to require the counsel for the respondents to provide a copy of the said notice to the counsel representing the petitioner during the course of the day. In case, thereafter, there is any grievance of the petitioner with regard to the compensation paid, the petitioner may take recourse to the provisions of Section 15(2) of the Railways Act, 1989.
With the aforesaid liberty, the petition is disposed off.
The written instructions provided by the learned counsel for the respondents shall be kept on record.
Order Date :- 31.10.2022 AKShukla/-