- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) The appellants are aggrieved by the judgment dated 01.05.2008 in Civil Writ Petition No. 4118/2006 of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The writ petition was filed by the appellants challenging the Notification dated 11.11.2002 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (For short Rs. 1894 Act') and the declaration dated 07.11.2003 and Award dated 31.10.2005. The High Court dismissed the writ petition on the sole ground that since Award had already been passed, the writ petition was not maintainable.
(3.) Be that as it may, during the pendency of the writ petition, in view of Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (For short Rs. 2013 Act') appellants have filed an additional affidavit stating therein that the land acquisition proceedings have lapsed as far as the land of the appellants are concerned. Since according to the appellants, the respondent State has neither paid the compensation nor taken physical possession of the land, this court directed the State to respond to the affidavit. Accordingly, an affidavit dated 19th April, 2016 has been filed before this Court by the Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority. At paragraph 3 of the affidavit, it is stated that the award was made on 31.10.2005 and "that possession of the land was taken over on as is where is basis by the Land Acquisition Collector on 31.10.2005.....". Whether taking over the possession in such a manner would satisfy the statutory requirement of taking physical possession is a question to be addressed.;