# OFFICER, SAGAR v. M. S. SESHAGIRI RAO & ANR

- **Citation:** [1968] 2 S.C.R. 892
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1968-01-31
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 335 of 1966
- **Bench:** 1. C. Shah, V. Ramaswam!
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/officer-sagar-v-m-s-seshagiri-rao-anr-4258
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

L.Jnd Acquisition Act (I of 1894).-<irant of lend on
surrer.der >n:ithoul compensation-Proceedings under
Latid
Ac1--Con1pensation, how payable.
condition to
AcqUisition
The· Government of ~1ys0rc. granted a plot of land to the respondent~
B
"'·ith the added condition that "in the event of the Government requirini
C
the land for anv reason \vhatsoevcr. ·the grantee shall suncoder the land
to the Government withbut claiming any compensation".
The Government acquired the land by adopting tho procedure prescribed by the Laed
Acquisition Act but no compensation wa~ awarded to the grantees for the
land.
The Hi~h Court, in appeal, held that sinee the Government had
failed to exercise the right which it had under the terms of tbe grant and
had acted under the Land Acquisition Act, lhe grantees v.·erc entitled to
compensation :is provided under the Act.
In appeal, this Court.
D
HELD : After ob!aining po~ession of the land in pursuance of statu
tory authority under s. 17 of the Land Acqu;sition Act, the Govemme!lt
could not seek ro exercise the option conferred by the terms of the grant.
The grantees w~rc entitled to iom!JC'0.S3tion for the land of \\o·hich the
OMlcrship v.·as vcs:red in them.
Bu·. in :i''C'i'iing compensation payable to
the ~antces, existence of the condition which severely restricte.d their right
could not be ignored. [894 ll-C]
E
The Act is silc11:
~s to the acquisiti,)n of partial interestc; in Jana but
it cannot be inferred therefrom that interest in ·Jand restricted becau!ie of
the existence of rights of the State in the land cannot be acquired. When
land is notified for acquisition for a public purpose and the State has no
interest therein. market value of the land mus! be detennined and aPPortioned among the persons entitkd to the land.
Where the interest of the
owner is clogged by the right of the Stale, the compensation payable is
F
only th-o market value of that intere,t. subject to the clog. [895 B, CJ
The Coliector of Bon1bay v.
.1\/u\ser,.,·anji Rattt;nji Mirtri &:
Ors.
{ 1955} S.C.R. 131 I, followed.
Attomry-Grnera/ v. De Kayser"s Ro.val Hot<! Ltd., (1920) A.C. 508,
referred to.
Government of Bombay v. Es11fa/i Salebliai.
I.LR. 34 Bom.
618,
G
approved.
Stat,· of Mtulras v. A.Y.S. /'arisuthn NnJnr. [1961] M.L.J. 285. disapproved.

## Text

SPECIAL
LAND
ACQUISITION
&
REHARIUTATION
A
OFFICER, SAGAR
v.
M. S. SESHAGIRI RAO & ANR.
January 31, 1968
(1. C. SHAH AND V. RAMASWAM!, JJ.]
L.Jnd Acquisition Act (I of 1894).-<irant of lend on
surrer.der >n:ithoul compensation-Proceedings under
Latid
Ac1--Con1pensation, how payable.
condition to
AcqUisition
The· Government of ~1ys0rc. granted a plot of land to the respondent~
B
"'·ith the added condition that "in the event of the Government requirini
C
the land for anv reason \vhatsoevcr. ·the grantee shall suncoder the land
to the Government withbut claiming any compensation".
The Government acquired the land by adopting tho procedure prescribed by the Laed
Acquisition Act but no compensation wa~ awarded to the grantees for the
land.
The Hi~h Court, in appeal, held that sinee the Government had
failed to exercise the right which it had under the terms of tbe grant and
had acted under the Land Acquisition Act, lhe grantees v.·erc entitled to
compensation :is provided under the Act.
In appeal, this Court.
D
HELD : After ob!aining po~ession of the land in pursuance of statu
tory authority under s. 17 of the Land Acqu;sition Act, the Govemme!lt
could not seek ro exercise the option conferred by the terms of the grant.
The grantees w~rc entitled to iom!JC'0.S3tion for the land of \\o·hich the
OMlcrship v.·as vcs:red in them.
Bu·. in :i''C'i'iing compensation payable to
the ~antces, existence of the condition which severely restricte.d their right
could not be ignored. [894 ll-C]
E
The Act is silc11:
~s to the acquisiti,)n of partial interestc; in Jana but
it cannot be inferred therefrom that interest in ·Jand restricted becau!ie of
the existence of rights of the State in the land cannot be acquired. When
land is notified for acquisition for a public purpose and the State has no
interest therein. market value of the land mus! be detennined and aPPortioned among the persons entitkd to the land.
Where the interest of the
owner is clogged by the right of the Stale, the compensation payable is
F
only th-o market value of that intere,t. subject to the clog. [895 B, CJ
The Coliector of Bon1bay v.
.1\/u\ser,.,·anji Rattt;nji Mirtri &:
Ors.
{ 1955} S.C.R. 131 I, followed.
Attomry-Grnera/ v. De Kayser"s Ro.val Hot<! Ltd., (1920) A.C. 508,
referred to.
Government of Bombay v. Es11fa/i Salebliai.
I.LR. 34 Bom.
618,
G
approved.
Stat,· of Mtulras v. A.Y.S. /'arisuthn NnJnr. [1961] M.L.J. 285. disapproved.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 335 of
1966.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated
November 6. 1963 of the Mysore High Court in Misc. Appeal
No. 293 of 1961.
H
•
L. A. OFFICER V. SESHAGIRI RAO (Shah, J.)
893
A
Niren De, Solicitor-General, R. Gopa/akrishnan and S. P.
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
Nayar, for the appellant.
Nau;;it Lal and T. S. Ramachandran, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Shah, J. On April 15, 1952, the Government of Mysore
granted an area of 11 acres and 3 8 gunthas of land situate in
village Hebbyle to the respondents to this appeal. The grant was
made in Form Appendix 'E' to the Mysore Land Revenue Rules
with the added condition that "in the event of the Government
requiring the land for any reason whatsoever, the grantee shall
surrender the land to the Government without claiming any
compensation". On January 11, 1958, the Government of Mysore
published a notification under s. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act
that the land granted was likely to be needed for a public purpose.
By a subsequent notification made under s. 17 ( 4) of the Land
Acquisition Act, Government dispensed with the enquiry under
s. 5-A of the Act and obtained possession of the land. In assessing compensation, the Land Acquisition Officer did not award
any compensation for the land, and awarded Rs. 1,495 /-
for
improvement claimed to have been made to the land by the grantees.
In a reference under s. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act,
the District Court agreed with the Land Acquisition Officer.
In
appeal, the High Court of Mysore set aside the award anJ remanded the case to the District Court with a direction to dete!1lline
the compensation payable to the grantees 11nd to dispose of the
case a~cording to law.
T!e High Court observed that since the
Government had failed to exercise the right which it had under
the terms of the grant and had adopted the procedure prescribed
by the Land Acquisition Act, compensation for acquisition under
the Land Acquisition Act and the process by which ihe grantees
were to be deprived of the land must be followed.
Against the
order passed by the High Court, this appeal is preferred with
special leave.
Under s. 3 (a) "land" is defined as including benefits to arise
out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth. By s. 4 the appropriate
Government is authorised to issue a notification that land in any
locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purpose,
and thereafter to exercise certain powers in respect of the land
for determining its suitability for the purpose notified.
The Government may under s. 17 in cases of urgency take possession of
any waste or arable ·1and needed for the public purpose and the
land thereupon vests absolutely in the Government free from all
encumbrance~.
The Government of Mysore did not purport to exercise the
power reserved by the terms of the grant, and adopted the proce-
894
SUPREME COURT JlEPORTS
JI968J 2 s.c.R.
dure prescribed by the Land Acquisition Act. The High Court
observed,
relying upon the decision of the House of Lords in
A11orney-General v. De Kayser's RoyaJ°Hote/ Ltd.(') that the
Government could not, after adopting the procedure prescribed
by the Land Acquisition Act, seek to resort to the conditions of
the grant and claim that no compensation for acquisition of the
land was payable.
It is true that after obtaining possessio!l of the
land in pursuance of statutory authority under s. 17, the Government of Mysore could not seek to exercise the option conferred
by the terms of the grant.
But on that account in assessing compeD~ation payable to the grantees, existence of the condition which
severely restricted their right could not be ignored. The grantees
were entitled to compensation for the land of which the ownership
was vested in them.
The measure of that compensation is the
market value of the land at the date of the notification, and the
measure of that market value is what a willing purchaser may at
the date of the notification under s. 4 pay for the right to the
land subject to the option Yested in the Government.
The High Coun also placed reli'!nce upon the judgment of the
Madras High Court in The State of Madras v. A. Y. S. Pdrisutha
Nadar('). In that case the main question decided was whether
it was open to a claimant to compensation for land under acquisition to assert title to the land notified for acquisition as against
the State Government when the land had become vested in the
Government by the operation of the Madras Estates (Abolition
and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act 26 of 1948. On behalf of the
State it was contended that once an estate is taken over by the
State in exercise of its powers under the Estates Abolition Act,
the entire land in the estate so taken over vested in the State in
absolute ownership, and that no other claim of ownership in respect of any parcel of the land in the estate could be put forward
by any other person as against the State Government without
obtaining a ryotwari pa/ta under the machinery of the Act. The
High Court rejected that contention observing that the Government availing itself of the machinery under the Land Acquisition
Act for compulsory acquisition and treating the subject-matter of '
the acquisition as not belonging to itself but to others, is under an
obligation to pay compensation as provided in the Act, and that
the Government was incompetent in the proceeding under the Land
Acquisition. Act to put forward its own title to the property sought
to be acquired so as to defeat the rights of persons entitled to the
compensation. The propositions so broadly stated are, in our
judgment, not accurate. The Act contemplates acquisition of land
for a public purpose.
By acquisition of land is intended the purchase of such interest outstanding in others as clog the right of
the Government to use the land for the public purpose. Where
(I) [ 1920) A.C. 508.
(2) [1961) 2 M.L.J. 285.
A
B
c
D
F
G
H
A
B
c
L. A. OFFICER v. SESHAGIRI RAO (Shah,/.)
895
the land is owned by a single p.!rson, the entire market value payable for deprivation of the ownership is payable to that person :
if the interest is divided, for instance, where it be.longs to several
persons, or where there is a mortgage or a lease outstanding on
the land, or the land belongs to one and a house thereon to
another, or limited interests in the land are vested in different
persons, apportionment of the compensation is contemplated. The
Act is, it is true, silent as to the acquisition of partial interests in
the land, but it cannot be inferred therefrom that interest in land
restricted because of the existence . of rights of t)J.e State in the
land cannot be acquired.
When land is notified for acquisition
for a public purpose and the State has no interest therein, market
value of the !arid must be determined and apportioned among the
persons entitled to the land.
Where the interest of th(: owner b
clogged by the right of the State, the compensation payable is only
the market value of that interest, subject to the clog.
We ~re unable to agree with the High Court of Madras that
when land 'is notified for acquisition, and in the land the State ha~
»
an J.riierest, or the ownership of the land is subject to a restrictive
.covenant in favour of the State, the State is estopped from setting
up its interest or right in the proceedings for acquisition.
The
State in a proceeding for acquisition does not acquire, its own
interest in the land, and the Collector offers and the Civil Court
assesses compensation for acquisition of the interest of the private
E
persons which gets extinguished by compulsory acquisition and
F
G
H
· pays compensation equivalent to the market value of that interest.
There is nothing In the Act which prevents the State from claiming
in the proceeding for acquisitron of la,nd notified for acquisition
that the interest proposed to be acquired is a restrictive interest.
We agree with the observations made by Batchelor, 1.,
~
Government of Bombay v. Esufali Salebhai(') at p. 636:
"The procedure laid down in the Act is so laid down
as being appropriate to the special case which is considered in the Act, i.e., the case where the complete
interests are owned· privately. But that special case is,
as I understand it, singled out by the legislature as the
norm or type with the intent that in other cases which
only partially conform to the type the procedure should
be followed in so far as it is appropriate, nor that such
cases should be excluded from the Act because they do
noi wholly conform to the type. In other words, Government .
. are not ·debarred from acquiring and
paying for the only outstanding interests merely because
the Act, which primarily contemplates 1111 interests as
r: I.LR. 34 Born. 618.
896
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1968) 2 S.C.R.
held outside Government, directs that the entire cor.;pensation based upon the market value of the whole land
must be distributed among
the. claimants.
In such
circumstances, as it appears to me, there is no insuperable objection to adapting the procedure to the ease on
the foot.ing that the outstanding interests, which are the
only things to be acquired, are the only things to be
paid for."
The principle of Esufa/i Salebhai'J case(') was it may be observed, approved by this Coun in
The Collector of Bombay v.
Nusserwanji Ratranji Mistri & Others( 2 ).
A
B
But the view expressed by the District Coun that the grantees c
are not entitled to any compensation for the land cannot be sustained.
The District Court was bound to determine the market
value. at the date of the notification under s. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, of the interest of the grantees in the land.
The order passed by he High Court is maintained subject to
the modification that the market value of the interest of the gran·
D
tees 11 the land (of the nature hereinbefore mentioned) at the date
of th~ notification under s. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act shall
be determined and paid to the grantees in addition to the compensat'T1 paid for the improvement in the land.
There will be no
order as to costs in this appeal.
Y.P.
(J) ! L.R. 3~ Born. 613.
(1) (19~5) s. c. ,i_ ::11.
Order of the High Court modified.
• '