TMI Blog1965 (3) TMI 68X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .S., JJ. For the Appellant : S.R. Ghosal and R.C. Prasad, For the Respondent :D.P. Singh, R.K. Garg, S.C. Agarwala and M.K. Ramamurthi JUDGMENT SUBBA RAO. J. I regret my inability to agree with brother Shah, J., on one of the questions raised in the appeals, namely, whether the Land Acquisition Officer can, after making the award under s. 12 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, hereinafter called the Act, fixing the compensation for the land acquired and apportioning the same among the persons interested in the land, refer the question of apportionment under s. 30 of the Act to the decision of the Court. Shah, J., held he could; but, with great respect to him, I take a different view. The facts are fully stated in the judgment of Shah, J., and they need not, therefore, be restated here. The answer to the problem raised falls to be decided on a conspectus of the relevant provisions of the Act. Section 9 of the Act enjoins on the Collector to cause public notice to be given at convenient places on or near the land to be taken, stating that the Government intends to take possession of the land', and that claims to compensation for all interests in such land may be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eof, or as to the persons to whom the same or any part thereof is payable, the Collector may refer such dispute to the decision of the Court. While s. 11 imposes a statutory duty on the Collector to enquire in respect of the three matters mentioned therein, ss. 29 and 30 deal with the manner of deciding the dispute in respect of one of the said matters, viz., apportionment of the compensation fixed; under s. 29, if the claimants agree in the apportionment of the compensation, the agreed particulars shall be specified in the award and the said award is final as between them. It is manifest that this agreement necessarily refers to the apportionment to be made under s. 11 before the award is made, for the section in terms says that the agreed particulars shall be entered' in the award. If there is no such agreement, s. 30 comes into play. It also refers to a stage after the compensation has been settled and before the apportionment is made and included in the award. If there was no agreed formula, the Land Acquisition Officer has the discretion, presumably when there is a complicated question, to refer the dispute in respect of the apportionment to the Court. But he need not do so ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rict Court. But the point was not raised at any stage of the proceedings. Indeed no application was filed in the District Court for bringing the Government on record in the place of Dr. Grant. In the circumstances I am not justified' in permitting the respondent to raise the said point for the first time before this Court. In the result, I set aside the decision of the High Court and restore that of the District Court. The appellant will have his costs throughout. Shah, J. Dr. Gregor Hug Grant hereinafter called 'Dr. Grant'--was the proprietor of the Dumka Estate in the District of Santhai Parganas in the State of Bihar. By a notification under s. 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 published on June 8, 1949 the Government of Bihar notified for acquisition a larger area of land out of the estate of Dr. Grant for establishing "an agricultural farm." The Collector made on March 25, 1952 awards setting out the true area of the land notified for acquisition, compensation which in his opinion should' be allowed for the land and apportionment of the compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land. The awards were filed in the Collector's office on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1954 and 298 of 1954 were preferred by the State to the High Court of Judicature at Patna. The High Court held that title of the owner to the land acquired under the Land Acquisition Act could not be extinguished under that Act till possession was taken under s. 16 of the Act, and that since the title of Dr. Grant in the land acquired stood statutorily vested in the State by virtue of the notification issued under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, he was not entitled to receive the compensation money. In the view of the High Court, title to the compensation money had vested in the State Government before possession was obtained by the State Government under s. 16 of the Land Acquisition Act, and that it was open to the Collector, on a dispute raised by the State about the right to receive the compensation money, to make a reference to the Court under s. 30 of the Act. With certificate granted by the High Court, these three appeals have been preferred by Dr. Grant. Three contentions have been urged in support of the appeals: (1) the Collector had no authority to refer the matter under s. 30 after he had apportioned the amount of compensation under s. 11 (2) since title to compensation i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ereof is payable, refer such dispute under s. 30 for decision by the Court. Part V of the Act which contains ss. 31 to 34 deals with payment of compensation. Under s. 31 the Collector has to tender payment of the compensation awarded by him to the persons interested entitled thereto according to the award. By the third proviso to sub-s. (2) of s. 31, liability of any person, who may receive the whole or any part of the compensation awarded under the Act, to pay the same to the person lawfully entitled thereto, is not affected. Sections 32 33 deal with investment of money deposited in respect of land belonging to persons incompetent to alienate the land and' in other cases, but with these we are not concerned. Section 34 obliges the Collector to pay interest at the rate of six per centum per annum if compensation is not paid or deposited on or before taking possession of the land from the time of taking possession until it is so paid or deposited'. There are two provisions ss. 18(1) and 30 which invest the Collector with power to refer to the Court a dispute as to apportionment of compensation or as to the persons to whom it is payable. By sub-s. (1) of s. 18 the Collector is en ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Collector may, but is not bound to exercise that power. It is however not predicated of the exercise of that power that the Collector has not apportioned the compensation money by his award. We are also unable to agree with the Mysore High Court that the power under s. 30 of the Land Acquisition Act has to be exercised on a motion within the period prescribed by s. 18(2) of the Land Acquisition Act. In our judgment the powers exercisable by the Collector under s. 18(1) and under s. 30 are distinct and may be invoked in contingencies which do not overlap. By virtue of the notification issued under the Bihar Land Reforms Act the right of Dr. Grant vested in the State of Bihar. On March 25, 1952 when the Collector made an award under s. 11, the only persons interested in the award were Dr. Grant and the members of the village community, but the title of Dr. Grant in the land notified for acquisition stood, by operation of the Bihar Land Reforms Act, transferred as from May 22, 1952 to the State of Bihar. A dispute then arose between the State Government and Dr. Grant "as to the persons whom" compensation was payable. The State had no right to the compensation payable for the land un ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ensation. If after a reference is made to the Court, the person interested dies or his title devolves upon another person, because of inheritance, 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. Rakhal Das Addy (11 Cal. L.J. 420) 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 abou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Bihar Land Reforms Act, the title of Dr. Grant to the Land notified for acquisition became vested' in the State, and therefore the right to compensation for the land acquired devolved upon the State. A dispute between Dr. Grant and the State as to their conflicting claims to the compensation money was clearly a dispute which could be referred under s. 30 of the Land Acquisition Act to the Court and was in fact referred to the Court. We are unable to agree with counsel for Dr. Grant that the reference made by the Collector under s. 30 was incompetent, because the State was not interested in the compensation money on the date when the award was made. The right of the State of Bihar has undoubtedly arisen after the award was made, but once the title which was originally vested in Dr. Grant stood statutorily transferred to the State, it was open to the State to claim a reference, not because the State was a person interested' in the compensation money before the date of the award, but because of the right which has arisen since the award was made. We therefore dismiss the appeals with costs. There will be one hearing fee. ORDER Following the judgment of the majority, the appeal ..... 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