RANCHI, India, April 18 -- Jharkhand High Court issued the following order on March 17:
1. Heard, learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the State and learned counsel for the respondent-NHAI.
2. Petitioner has prayed to quash the Annexure- 5, which is an order passed by District Land Acquisition Officer, Ramgarh, whereby the claim of the petitioner in respect of payment of compensation in lieu of acquisition of land has been denied.
3. After hearing the parties, I find that it is an admitted case that the land has been acquired under the provision of National Highway Act, 1956. The petitioner claims that he is also legal heir of the khatiyani raiyat, but his share has not been disbursed to him, rather has been paid to someone else. He prays disbursement of the aforesaid amount in his favour. This type of dispute is cannot be adjudicated in an application filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Furthermore Sections 3H(3) and 3H(4) of the National Highway Act, 1956 provides for the mechanism which needs to be followed to resolve these types of disputes.
4. As per Section 3H(3) of the National Highway Act, 1956 where several persons claim to be interested in the amount deposited as compensation, the competent authority has been given power to determine the persons who in its opinion are entitled to receive the amount payable. Further, the apportionment has also to be done by the same authority as per Section 3H (4) of the National Highway Act, 1956.
5. Considering the fact that there is statutory remedy available to the petitioner, I am not inclined to entertain this writ petition. If the matter is referred to the competent authority, he will decide the matter afresh without being prejudiced by the order passed by this Court.
6. With the aforesaid observation, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
