Summary
The Collector reduced a land-acquisition award by removing compensation for structures later alleged to be illegal. The Court held that the 1894 Act conferred no power to review the final award and that section 13A permitted correction of clerical or arithmetical errors, not substantive reconsideration. The impugned alteration also occurred beyond the six-month correction period.
Issues
- Whether section 13A authorised substantive review of a final land-acquisition award.
Provisions considered
- Section 13A, Land Acquisition Act, 1894The limited correction power did not authorise withdrawal of structural compensation on reconsideration of legality, and the alteration was also beyond six months. (¶¶ 8, 9, 10, 11)
Held
- The Collector had no statutory power under the Act to review the final section 11 award. Review is a statutory power and cannot be exercised in the guise of clarification, modification or correction without legal authority. (¶¶ 8, 9, 11, 12)
- Deciding whether the compensated structures were illegal required an opportunity to adduce evidence. Deduction on that basis was substantive review, rather than correction of a clerical or arithmetical mistake; the order was also outside section 13A’s six-month limit. (¶¶ 8, 10, 11)
Result
The appeals were allowed. The Collector’s Review Award and the High Court judgment were quashed. The appellants were entitled to compensation under the original award of 1 October 2003 and supplementary award of 27 October 2004. No order as to costs.