Summary
Land of a Gram Panchayat in Haryana was notified for acquisition in 2003, and the award was passed on 04.08.2006. Possession was handed to HUDA the same day. The writ petitioners, former tenants who became owners only in 2006 and then partly sold the land before the award, obtained a High Court declaration of lapse under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. They claimed they were in possession and had not been paid. The Supreme Court set the declaration aside and dismissed the writ petition. Once possession was taken and handed over, any later occupation was encroachment, and encroachers cannot use Section 24(2). Persons who became owners after the Section 4 notification have no locus to seek lapse.
Issues
- Whether persons in occupation of acquired land after possession was handed to the beneficiary, and who became owners only after the Section 4 notification, can obtain a declaration of lapse under Section 24(2) of the 2013 Act.
Provisions considered
- Section 24(2), Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013Occupation after possession has been taken and handed over is encroachment, which cannot found a claim of lapse; and following Pawan Kumar and Godfrey Phillips, subsequent purchasers lack locus. (¶¶ 3, 4, 4.1)
Held
- The High Court ignored the State's specific case that possession was handed over to HUDA on 04.08.2006 under Rapat No. 702 and that the petitioners were encroachers not entitled to compensation; allowing encroachers to invoke Section 24(2) would put a premium on illegality, which the legislature could not have intended. (¶¶ 2.1, 3)
- The petitioners, who acquired ownership after the Section 4 notification of 26.08.2003, are subsequent purchasers without locus to challenge the acquisition or seek its lapse, so the writ petition should not have been entertained. (¶¶ 2.1, 4, 4.1)
Result
Civil Appeal No. 9205 of 2022 allowed; the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment dated 05.12.2017 in CWP No. 15720 of 2014 quashed and set aside and the writ petition dismissed; no costs.