Kurra Venkateswara Rao, ... vs Competent Authority, La Managerii, ... on 1 May, 2020
The
District Collector of each District was authorized to act as an
Arbitrator under the Act, for determining the amount of
compensation payable. From the above, it is clear that the
amount fixed by the Arbitrator i.e., the District Collector will
attain finality if the power to modify or vary the award is
excluded from the jurisdiction of the Court. It is also to be noted
that the scheme of National Highways Act which mandates
deposit of amount determined under Section 3G as required
under Section 3(1) of 3H clearly demonstrates that there is a
major shift as to how land losers have to be treated vis-à-vis the
provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. As held by the
Division Bench of the Madras High Court in Project Director,
Madurai's case, if the District Court finds that the award
passed by the Arbitrator is against the principles of fair play and
justice, all that can be done is to set aside the award and leave
the land loser to work out his remedy under the law. If such an
approach is to be adopted under the N.H. Act, the purpose of
substitution of existing Section 3 of the N.H. Act with Sections
3A to 3J would be rendered redundant. In fact, it has been held
that by substituting Section 3 of the N.H. Act, the land loser
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would be in a worse position than 1894 Act, which at least
provides for a reference to civil court.