ISHWAR DUTT Vs. LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Claimants/appellants aggrieved against the common/similar judgments and orders dated 20-12-1999 passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh dismissing their claim for interest @ 12% granted by an earlier order of the Division Bench of the same High Court in C.W.P. No. 510/85 dated 9-9-1985 on equitable consideration for depriving them of their lands without taking proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act and payment of compensation have come up in these batch of appeals.

(2.) Facts being common and similar it would be sufficient to refer to the facts of CA No. 443 of 2001 for the purposes of deciding the controversy involved in these appeals.

(3.) Some areas of Himachal Pradesh before re-organisation of the State of Punjab on 1-11-1966 formed part of the erstwhile State of Punjab. Public Works Department, Government of Punjab in the year 1966 took up the construction of Solan-Jawanji-Dharja Road. After the re-organization of the States on 1-11-1966 the PWD Department of H.P. took over the construction. The road was finally commissioned in the year 1968. Possession of the land owned by the appellants comprising of Khasra No. 102/1 situated in Village Bagur, Tehsil and District Solan, along with the lands of the large number of villages that came under the said road construction plan was taken over in the year 1968. Though the possession of the land was taken over from the Land-owners in December, 1968 no steps were taken to formally acquire the land by issuing notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 hereinafter referred to as the Act).