- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) Both these appeals are filed against the common judgment of a Divi- sion bench of the High court in two Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case Nos. 7026 of 1990 and 2727 of 1991. As the facts and points raised are identical and similar in both the appeals, they are being disposed of together.
(3.) Before the High court, C. W. J. C. No. 7026 of 1990 was filed by M/s Bharat Coking Coal Limited, a government Company being a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (for short "the Company") which owns Dugdha Coal Washery in the District of Giridih in State of Bihar. For the purpose of fu- ture development and other expansion programmes of the said washery, it needed the adjacent land. On 24/09/1977 a proposal for acquisition of 200 acres of land for the said Washery was submitted to the Director, Land Acquisition, government of Bihar, Patna and an amount of rupees one lakh was deposited as advance for the acquisition process. With the approval of the competent authority, an administrative order was passed on 17/03/1981. The land proposed to be acquired was divided into three categories. The first category consisted of 92.67 acres - 3/4th of the raiyati land. The State government gave its clearance for the acquisition of this land in the year 1981 and a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act (for short "the Act") was published in the District Gazette on 16/06/1981 and a declaration was made under Section 6 of the Act on 28/02/1983. No objections were filed by any person against these notifications. The Company was directed to deposit the compensation amount of Rs. 21,75,780. 59 as required by the Land Acquisition Officer and 28/05/1986 was fixed as the date for payment of compensation to raiyats. The Land Acquisition Officer did not take any further steps either on that date or on any subsequent date. The Land Acquisition Officer entertained a petition for the first time in the month of June 1986 filed by M/s Waste Products Reclaimer Private Ltd. and for the purpose of considering the said objections further acquisition proceedings got stalled. The Company, which was not given the possession of the land, filed C. W. J. C. No. 7026 of 1990 in the High court in which the objector M/s Waste Products Reclaimer Private Ltd. figured as respondent 5. The raiyats opposing the acquisition filed C. W. J. C, No. 2727 of 1991 and they also got impleaded as interveners in the C. W. J. C. filed by the Company. The High court allowed C. W. J. C. No. 7026 of 1990 filed by the Company holding that M/s Waste Products Reclaimer Private Ltd. as well as the interveners namely the raiyats should not be allowed to raise any objection at that stage and directed the officers to give possession of the acquired land to the Company. In that view of the matter the other C. W. J. C. No. 2727 of 1991 filed by the raiyats was dismissed. Questioning the same M/s Waste Products Reclaimer Private Ltd. and the raiyats have filed these two appeals.;