# SUNDER LAL v. PARAMSUKBDAS

- **Citation:** [1968] 1 S.C.R. 362
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1967-08-25
- **Case number:** Civil Appeals Nos. 1003 and 1004 of 1964
- **Bench:** J. c. SHAH, s. M. SIIW, J. M. Shelat
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/sunder-lal-v-paramsukbdas-4140
- **Pages:** 10

## Headnote

Land Acquisition Act (1 of 1894), ss. 3(b), 20 and 21-Peraon
interested in compensation but not land-If entitled to bi; made
party to a reference to Civil Court.
Code of Civil Procedure (Act 5 of 1908), s. 115-Revirional Jurisdiction-Scope of.
The land of the appellant was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the compensation was apportioned between the
appellant and his lessee. The appellant claimed that he was enti\!ed
to the whole of the compensation ·while his lessee claimed a larger
share. At their instance, references were made to the Civil Court
under s. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. But, before the references
were made, the respondent, who was a decree holder against the
lessee, attached the lessee's share of the compensation amount in
execution of his decree. Subsequently the respondent withdrew the
lessee's share of the compensation amount in execution of his
decree. The appellant and his lessee, filed a compromise petition
before the Civil Judge and the respondent also applied to be
impleaded as party to the References. The ·Civil Judge dismissed
the respondent's apolications. The respondent· thereupon. filed revision petitions in the High Court. The Hitzh Court, held: (1) that
the respondent was a person interested in the compensation within
the meaning of s. 3 (b) of the Land Acquisition Act and was therefore entitled to claim that he should be allowed to join as a· Darty;
and (ii) that the revision petitions were competent. In appeal. this
Court,
Held: (i) The resnondent was a 'person interested' within s. 3(b)
of the Act, because. he was claiming an interest in the compensation. He was also interested in the objections which were pending
before the Court in the references made to it and was a person
whose interest would be affected by the objections. within s. 21 of
the Act. Accordingly, he was entitled to be made a party. [36'1H;
371C-D]
The definition of 'person interested' in s. 3 (b) is an inclusive
definition and in order to fall within it it is not neressary that a
person should claim an interest in the acquired land. It is sufficient
if he claims an interest in the compensation to be awarded.
A
nerson claiminir an1 interest in the compensation would be 11 perst1n
interested in the objections to be determined under s. 20 of the
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Act, if the objection is to the amount of compensation or the apportionment of compensation, ar.d if his claim is likely to be affected
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bv the decision on the objection. Under s. 21 the interests of a person
who is not affected by the objection are not to be considered; but if
he is affected. there is no restriction on the grounds which can be
raised by him to· protect his interest. Therefore, a person claimlnl!
an intere•t in thP. comoensation is entitled. to be heard under ss. 20
and 21. The sections do not prescribe that his claim to an Interest
in compensation should be as 'compensation'. A person who has
no interest in land ran never claim compensation qua compeasa-
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tion, for what he claims is an interest in the compensation, to be
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8UNDERLAL V. PA.IWISUIO!DAS (Sikri, J.)
363
awarded. That is not to say that a person claiming an interest in
the compensation may not claim that the compensation awarded for
the acquired land is low, if it affects his interests. [367G-H; 3680-H]
Grant v. State of Bihar A.I.R. 1966 ~.C. 237, followed.
Golap Khan v. Bholanath Marick, 12, Cal. L.J. 545, Siva Prasad
Bhattadu v. A.E.L. Mission, A.I.R. 1926 Mad. 307 approved.
Man;oor Ahmed v. Ra.jla.1:1ni Dasi, A.LR. 1956 Cal. 263 Abu Bakar
v. Peary Mohan Mukherjee, IL.R. 34, Cal. 451, Gobinda Kumar Roy v.
Debendra Kumar Roy 12 C.W.N. 98. Mahammad Safi. v. Haran
Chandra 12 C.W.Nl 985 and Kamna Sindhu Dhar v. Panna Lal Pararnanik 65 C.W .N. 802, distinguished.
(ii) The High Court was right in holding that the orders of the
Civil Judge were not awards within the meaning of s. 54 of the Land
Acquisition Act; and as they were not awards and no appeals lay,
the r

## Text

SUNDER LAL
v.
PARAMSUKBDAS
August 25, 1967
[J. c. SHAH, s. M. SIIW AND J. M. SHELAT, JJ.)
Land Acquisition Act (1 of 1894), ss. 3(b), 20 and 21-Peraon
interested in compensation but not land-If entitled to bi; made
party to a reference to Civil Court.
Code of Civil Procedure (Act 5 of 1908), s. 115-Revirional Jurisdiction-Scope of.
The land of the appellant was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the compensation was apportioned between the
appellant and his lessee. The appellant claimed that he was enti\!ed
to the whole of the compensation ·while his lessee claimed a larger
share. At their instance, references were made to the Civil Court
under s. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. But, before the references
were made, the respondent, who was a decree holder against the
lessee, attached the lessee's share of the compensation amount in
execution of his decree. Subsequently the respondent withdrew the
lessee's share of the compensation amount in execution of his
decree. The appellant and his lessee, filed a compromise petition
before the Civil Judge and the respondent also applied to be
impleaded as party to the References. The ·Civil Judge dismissed
the respondent's apolications. The respondent· thereupon. filed revision petitions in the High Court. The Hitzh Court, held: (1) that
the respondent was a person interested in the compensation within
the meaning of s. 3 (b) of the Land Acquisition Act and was therefore entitled to claim that he should be allowed to join as a· Darty;
and (ii) that the revision petitions were competent. In appeal. this
Court,
Held: (i) The resnondent was a 'person interested' within s. 3(b)
of the Act, because. he was claiming an interest in the compensation. He was also interested in the objections which were pending
before the Court in the references made to it and was a person
whose interest would be affected by the objections. within s. 21 of
the Act. Accordingly, he was entitled to be made a party. [36'1H;
371C-D]
The definition of 'person interested' in s. 3 (b) is an inclusive
definition and in order to fall within it it is not neressary that a
person should claim an interest in the acquired land. It is sufficient
if he claims an interest in the compensation to be awarded.
A
nerson claiminir an1 interest in the compensation would be 11 perst1n
interested in the objections to be determined under s. 20 of the
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Act, if the objection is to the amount of compensation or the apportionment of compensation, ar.d if his claim is likely to be affected
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bv the decision on the objection. Under s. 21 the interests of a person
who is not affected by the objection are not to be considered; but if
he is affected. there is no restriction on the grounds which can be
raised by him to· protect his interest. Therefore, a person claimlnl!
an intere•t in thP. comoensation is entitled. to be heard under ss. 20
and 21. The sections do not prescribe that his claim to an Interest
in compensation should be as 'compensation'. A person who has
no interest in land ran never claim compensation qua compeasa-
(B
tion, for what he claims is an interest in the compensation, to be
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8UNDERLAL V. PA.IWISUIO!DAS (Sikri, J.)
363
awarded. That is not to say that a person claiming an interest in
the compensation may not claim that the compensation awarded for
the acquired land is low, if it affects his interests. [367G-H; 3680-H]
Grant v. State of Bihar A.I.R. 1966 ~.C. 237, followed.
Golap Khan v. Bholanath Marick, 12, Cal. L.J. 545, Siva Prasad
Bhattadu v. A.E.L. Mission, A.I.R. 1926 Mad. 307 approved.
Man;oor Ahmed v. Ra.jla.1:1ni Dasi, A.LR. 1956 Cal. 263 Abu Bakar
v. Peary Mohan Mukherjee, IL.R. 34, Cal. 451, Gobinda Kumar Roy v.
Debendra Kumar Roy 12 C.W.N. 98. Mahammad Safi. v. Haran
Chandra 12 C.W.Nl 985 and Kamna Sindhu Dhar v. Panna Lal Pararnanik 65 C.W .N. 802, distinguished.
(ii) The High Court was right in holding that the orders of the
Civil Judge were not awards within the meaning of s. 54 of the Land
Acquisition Act; and as they were not awards and no appeals lay,
the revisions were competent and the High Court was justified in
interfering as the CiVil Judge refused to exercise a jurisdiction
vested in him. [371F]
CIVIL
APPELLATE
JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 1003
and 1004 of 1964.
Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order dated
January 7, 1963 of the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench in
Civil Revision Applications Nos. 294 and 295 of 1962.
S. T. Desai, G. L. Sang/ti and 0. C. Mathur, for the appellant (in both the appeals).
C. B. Agarwa/a, S. K. Gambliir and Ganpat Rai, for respondent No. 1 (in both the appeals).
R. N. Sachthey, S. P. Nayar for R. H. Dhebar, for the respondent No. 3 (in both the appeals).
The Judgment of the court was delivered b•·
Sikri, J. These two appeals, by special leave, are directed
against the judgment of High Court of Judicature at Bombay
(Nagpur Bench), dated January 7, 1963, allowing two Civil Revision applications Nos. 294 of 1962 and 295 of 1962. filed by
Paramsukhdas, a respondent before us. The High Court, by this
judgment, quashed orders dated April 9, 1962, in the Land
Acquisition Cases No. 189 of 1961 and No. 190 of 1961 (as
amended subsequently on July 6, 1962) a'nd remitted the matter
to the Court of the Civil Jud'ge, Akola, for a fresh decision on
merits with advertence to the remarks in the judgment. The High
Court further directed that Paramsukhdas be allowed to be
implcaded as a non-applicant in the two proceedings· and all
parties wilt be allowed to amend their pleadings or make fresh
pleadings with respect to the alleged compromise as filed before
the High Court in Special Civil Application No. 232 of 1960.
Mr. S. T. Desai, the learned counsel for the appellant, contends:
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(I) That the High Court has no jurisdiction
C.P.C.. to interfere with the orders of the Civil
April 9, 1962;
under s. J 15,
Judge, dated
364
SUJ'llEXB COUllT BBPOllTS
(1968] 1 S.0.11.
(2) That Paramsukhdas, respondent No. J, is not a person
A
interested 'in the compensation and is not entitled to be impleaded
as a party to the references under s. 18 of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894, (I of 1894)-hereinafter referred to as the Act;
(3) That, if at all, no revision but appeal lay to the High
Court.
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Before dealing with the above contentions it is necessary to
state the relevant facts. Sundertal, appellant, owned some land
(field No. 22) in Mouza Umari, Taluq and District Akola. This
· field had been leased to Khushal Singh under a registered lease
for 5 years commencing from April I, 1954. The field wal! acquired by the Government. The Land Acquisition Officer made his
award on January 30, 1960, and assessed the total compensation
at Rs. 26,105.58, and apportioned the amount equally between
Sunderlal and Khushal Singh. On February 17, 1960, the Land
Acquisition Officer noted the following regarding Khusbal Singh:
"2. Khushalsing s/o Tolaram
(a) According to letter No. 154/60 of 15th February 1960
from the Court of Civil Judge (Sr. On.) Khamgaon, and
the attachment order issued by that Court, in C.S. No.
4-B/1958, the amount .to be paid to Khusbalsing
Tolaram be kept in Revenue Deposit.
(b) One Sunderlal minor
guardian father l\fadanlal
Harjimal, of Akola. bas presented an objection-petition
against this payment."
Sunderlal filed· an application for reference. under s. 18 of
the Act, claiming more compensation and also complaining in
regard to the apportionment of the amount of compensation between him and Khushal Singh. According to him, Khushal Singh
was not a protected tenant and his period of lease having expired,
he was not at all entitled to any portion of the amount of compensation. A reference under s. 18 was made on June 27, 1961'.
and this reference was numbered Land Acquisition Case No. 189
of 1961. Khushal Singh also aipplied for a reference and he claimed enhancement of compensation and challenged the . basis of
apportionment adopted by the Land Asquisition Officer. The Collector· made the reference and it was numbered Land Acquisition
No. 190 of 1961.
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Before we deal with what happened before the Civil Judge,
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it is necessary to give some fa1:1s· about the litigation between
Sunderlal and Khusbal SinJZh. On July 21. 1956, Sunderlal filed
a suit (Civil Suit No. 133-B of 1956) against Khushal Singh for
rent due on January I, 1955, and January I, 1956, in the Court ·
of Civil Judge, Aktlla. On July 22, 1957, the Civil Court referred the matter to the Revenue Court under s. 16-A of the Berar
11
Regulation of Agricultural Leases Act, 195L On July 25, 1958,
the Sub-Divisional Officer, Akola,
answered
the
reference
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SUNDERLAL 11. PARAMSUKHDAS (Sikri, J,)
3G5
(Revenue Case No. 79 of 1957-58) holding that Khushal Singh
was not a protected lessee. On appeal, the Deputy Collector,
Akola, held, on October 8, 1959, that· Khushal Singh was a protected lessee. The Bombay Revenue Tribunal confirmed the order
of the Deputy Collector on March 22, 1960. Sunderlal filed a
petition before the High Court under Art. 226 of the Constitution.
It was numbered Special Civil Application No. 232 of 1960. On
February 8, 1961, a compromise petition (Civil Application No.
163 of 1961) was filed in the High Court, in Special Civil Application No. 232 of· 1960. It was stated in the compromise petition
that Khushal Singh did not wish to dispute Sunderlal's contention
that the land was leased for horticulture purposes and that he
had not acquired the status of a protected lessee, as defined in
the Berar Regulation of Agricultural Lea1>es Act, 1951. Khushal
Singh further stated that he had no objection to the quashing
of the orders of the Bombay Revenue Tribunal dated March 22,
1960, and of the Deputy Co11ector dated October 8, 1959.
On March 11, 1961, Paramsukhdas filed an application (Civil
Application No. 246 of 1961) in the High Court in Special Civil
Application No. 232 of 1960, claiming to be heard. He alleged
that he had obtained a decree against Khushal Singh and started
execution proceedings for Rs. 20,013 /-
and the amount Of
Rs. 13,644.27 ordered to be paid to Khushal Singh as compensation had been attached by him for the satisfaction of his decree.
He alleged that Khushal Singh and Sunderla'l had mala f!de
entered into an agreement and had filed a clompromise application asking for quashing of the orders of the Revenue Courts
with the sole object of setting at naught the attachment and
execution of his decree. He prayed, therefore, for leave to appear
in the case as a party vitally interested. He further prayed that
the compromise application should not be entertained and should
be dismissed in the interest of justice.
It appears that on March 20, 1961, this application came up
for hearing before the High Court. Paramsukhdas, however, took
three weeks' more time from the High Court. which was granted
to him. Tt further appears that Paramsukhdas withdrew the said
amount of Rs. 13,644.27 towards satisfaction of his decree. On
April 18, 1961, he filed another ttpplication (Civil Application
No .. 365/61) wherein he stated that he had withdrawn the amount
and alleged that be was now an interested party, and, therefore,
he should be joined as a party. On the same date, his Advocate,
Mr. Sohoni gave an undertaking in the following terms:
"Mr. Sohoni undertakes to hold the moneys withdrawn
by his client subject to the orders of this Court on this
application."
On August 3, 1961, the High Court disposed of Civil Application No. 163 of 1961. Civil Application No. 246 of 1961 and
Civil Application No. 365 of 1961. The High Court held that in
J,.'85SCI-!O
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366
SUPl\B!il COURT RllPORTS
[1968) l B.0.R.
the circumstances "we do not consider it advisable to proceed
in this matter ourselves. The parties will be at liberty to file
the compromise petition in the Civil Court where proceedings are
pending on reference under section 18 of the Land Acquisition
Act." The High Court, in order to safeguard the interests of the
parties, kept these proce.edings pending till the decision on the
compromise petition by the Civil Court. The compromise petition
was directed to be returned to Sunderlal.
On September 18, 1961, Sunderlal and Khushal Singh filed
applications for compromise in both the Land Acquisition references. Patramsukhdas filed applications under 0. XXII r. 10, read
withs. 151, C.P.C., praying that his name be substituted or added
as an applicant. He alleged that the compromise was ·fraudulent
and that Khushal Singh was abll!ldoning the case, and as an
attaching creditor, he was entitled to be added a party to the
case. Both Khushal Singh and Sunderlal objected, and by twO
orders dated April 9, 1962, the Civil Judge rejected the applications of Paramsukhdas. He framed the issue;
"Whether Paramsukhdas can be permitted to be substituted or added as a party to these two references."
He held that admittedly Paramsukhdail had not approached the
Land Acquisition Officer in the proceedings in which the award
was passed on January 30, 1960. He had not appeared before
the Land Acquisition Officer as a person interested in the land
or the compensation that would be determined by the authorities.
He further held that under the Circumstances Paramsukhdas was
not one of the persons interested in the adquired land before
the Collector, and he also could not be one of the persons interest·
ed in the objections under s. 20(b) of the Act. After referring
to Manjoor Ahmad v. Rajlaxmi Dasi(') and Abu Bakar v. Peary
Mohan Mukherjee ('), he held that the scope of the reference
under s. 18 was limited and new questions not covered by the
reference could not be entertained. He reviewed his orders on
July 6, 1962, but nothing turns on that in the present appeals.
Paramsukhdas filed two revisions, Nos. 294 and 295 of 1962.
before the High Court on June 30, 1962. On August 22, 1962.
Sunderlal filed an application for withdralWal of Special Civil Appli•
cation No. 232 of 1960. The High Court, on September 24, 1962.
ordered:
"Allowed. main petition dismissed as withdrawn.
No
costs.".
Before the High Court a preliminary objection was raised in Civil
Revisions Nos. 294 and 295 of 1962, that revisions were not
competent because appeails lay against the orders of the Civil
(ll A.I.R. 1956 Cal. 263.
(2) I.L.R. 34 Cal. 451.
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l!UNDERLAL V, PAIWolSUKHDAS. (Sm, J.)
367
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Judge. The High Court overruled this objection. Regarding the
claim of Paramsukhdas to be added as a party, the High Court
lield that his application showed that he was not claiming any
interest in the lands themselves but was only claiming an interest
in the compensation for the land which had been deposited in
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the Court for payment to the persons concerned, and as such was a
person interested, as defined in s. 3(b) of the Act, and he would,
therefore, be entitled to claim that he should be allowed to join
as a party.
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Mr. Desai contends that an attaching creditor is not interested in the amount of compensation as compensation. His interest,
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he urges, is only to get moneys belonging to the judgment-debtor
in enforcement of his rights, and accordingly he is not entitled
to be made a party to the reference under s. 18 of the Adt. He
further contends that the Court in hearing a reference under s. 18
of the Act can only deal with an objection, which has been referred and cannot go into any matter beyond the reference. He con·
eludes: if this is so, even if Paramsukhdas is ordered to be added
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a party he would not be able to challenge the compromise bet·
ween Sunderlal and Khushal Singh. The learned counsel for the
respondent, Mr. C. B. Agarwala, controverts these submissions.
He says that Paramsukhdas is a person interested in the objection
within s. 20, and is a person affected by the obiectil:m within s. 21
of the Act. He also relies on 0. XXII r. 10(2), C.P.C., which
is made applicable by s. 53 of the Act.
II
Before examining the authorities cited at the Bar, it is necessary to examine the scheme and the provisions of the Act insofar
as they are relevant to the question of determination of cbm·
"'
pensation, the question of apportionment of the compensation,
and the question as to the persons who are entitled to be heard.
Section 3(b) defines the expression "person interested" as folldws:
1
"the expression person interested includes all persons
claiming an interest in
compensation to be made on
account of the alcquisition of land· under this Act; and
a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is
interested in an easement affecting the land."
It will be noticed that it is an inclusive definition. Jt is not neoesG
sarv that in order to fall within the definition a person should
·\
claim an interest in land, which has been a~uired. A person
becomes a person interested if he claims an interest in compensation to be awarded. It seems to us that Paramsukhclas is a ''l:>erson
Interested" within s. 3(b) of the Act because he claims an Interest
irt compensation. But before he can be made a party in a reference
H:
it has to be seen whether he comes within s. 20(b) and· s . 21 of
:
the Act.
J,,ISi!SOt-IO(a)
368
BUl'RBKll COURT llBPOllTB
[1968] 1 s.o.B.
The scheme of the Act seems to be to first deal with persons
who are interested in land. These persons are heard under s. SA
of the Act. The ordinary meaning of ".the person interested in
land" is expanded by s. 5A(3), for the purposes of this section,
to include a person who would be entitled to claim an interest in
compensation. It would be strange to come to the conclusion that
the Legislature is keen that a person claiming an interest in compensation should be heard before the land is acquired but is not
interested in him after the land is acquired. On the contrary, it
follows from s. 5A(3) that a person claiming an interest in compensation would be one of the persons whose interests are meant
to be safeguarded. It appears from ss. 6 to I 0 that a person claiming an interest in compensation is not expressly mentioned. But
in s. 11 he is expressly mentioned, and it is directed that the Collector shall inquire into respective interests of the persons claiming the compensation and shall make an award. Section 12 makes
the award final and conclusive as between persons interested, i.e.,
including persons claiming an interest in compensation. Under
s. 14 the Collector has power. inter alia, to summon the parties
interested.
Under s. 18 any person interested can claim a reference.
A person claiming an interest in compensation would also be
entitled to
claim a reference. After a reference is made the
Court is
enjoined
under s. 20 to
deiermine the
objections,
a1nd serve, among others, all persons interested in the objection. A
person claiming an interest in compensation would, it seems to us.
be a person interested in the objection if the objection is to the
amount of compensation or the apportionment of compensation,
and if his claim is likely to be affected by the decision on the objection. Section 21 restricts the scope of enquiry to a consideration
uf the interests of the persons affected by the objection. But it does
:Jot follow from s. 21 that there is any restriction on the grounds
which can be raised by a person affected by the objection to prorect his interests. The restriction that is laid is not to consider the
interests of a person who is not affected by the objection. Section
29 deals with apportionment of compensation, if there is agreement, and s. 30 enables the Collector to refer disputes as to apportionment to the Court. From the above discussion it follows
that a person claiming an interest in compensation is entitled to
be heard under ss. 20 and 2 I of the Act. The provisions of the
Act. including ss. 20 and 21, do not prescribe that his claim to
an interest in compensation should be "as compensation", as urged
by Mr. Desai. This is really a contradictory statement. For, a
fortiori. he has no interest in land, and compensation is given for
interests in land. He can never claim compensalion qua compensation for what he claims is an interest in the compensation to be
awarded. This is not to say that a person claiming an interest in
compensation may not claim that the compensation awarded for
the acquired land is low, if it affects his interests.
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SUNDERLAL ~. PAIIAMSUKBDAS (Silcrt, J.)
369
In the view we have taken we are supported by some authorities. Shah, J., speaking for the majority in Grant v. State of
Bihar,(') observed:
"The right of the State of Bihar arose on May 22, 1952
when the title to the land vested in it by virtue of the
notification issued under the Bihar Land Reforms Act.
There is nothing in the Land Acquisition Act which
prohibits the Collector from making a reference under
s. 30 for determination of the title of the person whci has
since the date of the award acquired a right to the compensation. If after a reference is made to the Court the
person interested dies and his title devolves upon another
person, because of inheritanqe, succession, insolvency,
forfeiture, compulsory winding up or other form of statutory transfer, it would be open to the party upon whom
the title has devolved to prosecute the claim which the
person from whom the title has devolved could have
prosecuted. In Promotha Nath Mitra v. Rakshal Das
Addy(') it was held that a reference made by the Collector under s. 30 of the Land Acquisition Act at the instance of a proprietor of land may be prosecuted by the
purchaser of his rights after the award at a revenue auction. If the right to prosecute a reference by a person on
whom the title of the person interested has devolved be
granted, there is no reason why the right to claim a
reference of a dispute about the person entitled to compensation may not be exercised by the person on whom
the title has devolved since the date of the award.
The scheme of the Land Acquisition Act is that all
disputes about the quantum of compensation must be
decided by resort to the procedure prescribed by the
Act; it is also intended that disputes about the rights of
owners to compensation being ancillary to the principal
dispute should be decided by the Court to which power
is entrusted. Jurisdiction of the Court in this behalf is
not restricted to cases of apportionment, but extends to
adjudication of disputes as to the person who are entitled
to receive compensation, and there is nothing in s. 30
which excludes a reference to the Court of a dispute raised by a person on whom the title of the owner of land
has, since the award, devolved."
In Go<ap Khan v. Bholanath Marick(') an attaching creditor
was directed to be made a party to the reference under the Land
(1) A.LR. 1966 S.C. 237.
(3) 12 Cal. L.J. 545.
(2) 11 Cal. L.J. 420.
310
SUPlWlE COuRT MPOllTli
[1968) i s.o.u.
•
Acquisition Act, before the Civil Court. Mookerjee, J •• observA
ed:
"The petitioner was entitled to be added as a party,
not under Rule 10, but on the ground that he was a
person interested in the subject-matter of the litigation
and that no order ought to have been made for its dis·
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posal without any opportunity afforded to him to establish his claim."
In Siva Pratapa Bhattadu v. A.E.L. Mission(') an attaching
aeditor was held to be a person interested within s. 3(b) of the
Act.
Mr. Desai relies on Manjur Ahmed v. RajlakshmW> but in
that case the point decided by the Court was different. It was held
there that if a party to a land acquisition proceeding before the
Collector had not obtained a reference under s. l 8 of the Act, its
representative could not do indirectly what they did not do directly,
i.e. they could not be added a party in a reference pending at the
instanoe of other parties in order that the nil awa:rd against the
party might be reversed and in order that they might be awarded
a share of the compensation money. Here no such point has been
raised. It has not been urged before us that Paramsukhdas was a
party before the Collector and that having not applied for a reference under s. 18 he is now debarred from being added as a party.
The case of Gobinda Kumar Roy Ohowdhury v. Debendra
Kumar Roy Chowdhury(') was also decided on the same lines.
Similar view was reiterated in
Mahamma~ Safi v. Haran
Chandra('). Both these cases had followed Abu Bakar v. Peary
Mohan Mukerjee('). Maclean, C. J., observed as follows in Abu
Bakar v. Peary Mohan Mukerjee(').
"If we read that section in connection wi.th section
20 and section 18, I think it is impossible to avoid the
conclusion that the Legislature intended that all that the
Court could deal with was the objection which had been
referred to it; and this seems to be a view consistent
with commonsense and with the ordinary method of procedure in civil cases. The zemindar here could, if he
liked, have raised the objection as to the whole compensation for the trees being given to the tenants, but
he did not do so. He must, therefore, be taken to have
accepted the award in that respect; and it woud be little
less than dangerous if we were to hold that the Judge to
(1) A.I.R. 1926 Mad. 307.
(2) A.LR. 1956 Cal. 263.
(3) C.W.N. 98.
(4) 12 C.W.N. 985.
(5) 34 Cal. 451.
c
D
E
F
G
B
•
A
SUNDBRLAL ~. PA.Ril!BUKliDAS (Sim, J.)
whom only one objection was referred could go into all
sorts of questions and objections which. had not been
referred to him."
371
These three cases are distinguishable inasmuch as they are dealing
with the cases of persons who having a right to seek a reference
B
failed to claim that reference but ought to raise the point in a,
reference made at the instance of another party.
0
D
E
F
G
The case of Karuna Sindhu Dhar v. Panna Lal Paramanik(')
also does not assist the appellant. The High Court held in that case
that as Rajmohan never claimed the entire compensation money
before the Collector, the Land Acquisition Judge was not entitled
to vary the awards by a declaration that Rajmohan alone was
entitled to get the compensation.
It seems to us that Paramsukhdas was clearly a person interested in the objections which were pending before the Court
in the references made to it and that he was also a person whose
interest would be affected by tl1e objections, within s. 21. He was
accordingly entitled to be mad"e a party. In the result we uphold
the order made by the High Court in this respect.
Mr. Desai says that at any rate direction should be given that
Paramsukhdas should not be entitled to challenge the compromise
entered into between Sunderlal and Khushal Singh. We are unable
to accept !his submission. Paramsukhdas is entitled to raise all
points to protect his interests which were affected by the objections.
It is also in the interest of justice that there should not be multifarious proceedings and all points arising which are not expressly
barred under s. 21 should be gone into by the Court.
This leaves only the two points regarding the jurisdiction of
the High Court. In our view, the High Court is quite right in
holding that the· orders of the Civil Judge, dated April 9, 1962,
were not awards within s. 54 of the Act. The awards had still to
be made. If no appeal lay. then the revisions were competent and
the High Court was right in. entertaining the revisions because
!he ~ivil Judge had eit~er refus~d t_o exerci~e j?Tisdiction vesting
m hllll or had acted with matenal megulanty m the exercise of
his jurisdiction.
In the result the appeals fail and are dismissed with costs
in favour of Respondent No. I; one hearing fee.
Y.P.
Appeal dismissed.
(1) 65 C.W.N. 802.