Summary
The Supreme Court upheld the invalidation of an urgency acquisition of premises retained after a statutory requisition expired. The State’s long advance knowledge and inaction could not justify dispensing with objections, nor did a consent order permitting lawful acquisition supply urgency. The owner’s compensation appeals succeeded: the requisition statute’s compensation machinery did not cover subsequent unauthorised occupation. The Court arranged independent assessment of occupation damages, prescribed a conditional default rate and allowed four months to vacate on undertakings.
Issues
- Whether the State’s delay and an order allowing lawful acquisition justified invoking urgency powers after requisition expired.
- Whether compensation for occupation after requisition ended could be assessed through the requisition statute’s machinery.
Provisions considered
- Section 10B, West Bengal Premises Requisition and Control (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1947The twenty-five-year limit required release of the premises; the State had long advance notice of its obligation. (¶¶ 2-3, 19)
- Section 17(1) and (4), Land Acquisition Act, 1894Urgency powers could not cure the State’s prolonged inaction or defeat the owner’s opportunity to object where genuine urgency was absent. (¶ 19-24)
- Section 11(1)(b), West Bengal Premises Requisition and Control (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1947The machinery for compensation for requisitioned premises did not govern damages for occupation without authority after requisition ended. (¶ 25-26)
Held
- The State had ample time to undertake ordinary acquisition before requisition expired. Its later reliance on permission to take lawful acquisition steps did not erase that delay or establish urgency sufficient to dispense with objections. (¶ 16-24)
- Compensation under the requisition statute concerns the period of requisition. The direction to assess subsequent unauthorised occupation through Section 11(1)(b) was therefore set aside. (¶ 25-26)
- A retired High Court judge was appointed to assess occupation damages on timely written authority, with interim compensation to be determined within two months of entering the reference. Absent that authority, the specified consequence was Rs 100 per square foot per month for the illegal occupation period, payable within four months. (¶ 27-28)
- Four months to vacate was conditional on an undertaking to deliver vacant possession and pay interim compensation as directed. Corresponding directions applied to the sugar corporation occupying the fifth-floor premises. (¶ 29-30)
Result
State’s appeals dismissed; owner’s appeals allowed on the compensation machinery. Independent damages assessment and conditional payment and vacation directions issued for both premises.