TMI Blog1961 (3) TMI 93X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ision of the other appeal, Civil Appeal No. 26 of 1958. The appellant Raja Harish Chandra Raj Singh was the proprietor of a village Beljuri in the District of Nainital. It appears that proceedings for compulsory acquisition of land including the said village for a public purpose were commenced by respondent 2, the State of Uttar Pradesh; notifications under ss. 4 and 6 of the Act were issued in that behalf, and the provisions of s. 17 were also made applicable. Accordingly, after the notice under s. 9(1) of the Act was published possession of land was taken by the Collector on March 19, 1960. Thereupon the appellant filed his claim to compensation for the land acquired in accordance with s. 9(2), and proceedings were held by the Deputy Land Acquisition Officer, respondent 1, for determining the amount of compensation. It appears that in these proceedings an award was made, signed and filed in his office by respondent I on March 25, 1951. No notice of this award was, however, given to the appellant as required by s. 12(2) and it was only on or about January 13, 1953 that he received information about the making of the said award. The appellant then filed an application on Februar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sons interested in any land which has been notified under s. 4(1). After the objections are thus considered a declaration that land is required for a public purpose follows under s. 6(1). Section 6(2) provides for the publication of the said declaration; and s. 6(3) makes the declaration conclusive evidence that the land is needed for a public purpose. Section 9 requires the Collector to give public notice in the manner specified stating that the Government intend to take possession of the land and calling for claim,% to compensation in respect of all interests in such land. Section 9(2) prescribes the particulars of such notice, and s. 9(3) an 4) provide for the manner of serving such notice. Section II deals with the enquiry and provides for the making of the award by the Collector. Section 12(l) then lays down that the award when made by the Collector shall be filed in his office, and shall, except as otherwise provided, be final and conclusive evidence as between the Collector and the persons interested whether they have respectively appeared before the Collector or not, of the true area and value of the land, and the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interest ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... echanical way of construing the relevant clause is justified in A law. It is obvious that the effect of this construction is that if a person does not know about the making of the award and is himself not to blame for not knowing about the award his right to make an application under s. 18 may in many cases be rendered ineffective. If the effect of the relevant provision unambiguously is as held by the High Court the unfortunate consequence which may flow from it may not have a material or a decisive bearing. If, on the other hand, it is possible reasonably to construe the said provision so as to avoid such a consequence it would be legitimate for the Court to do so. We must therefore enquire whether the relevant provision is capable of the construction for which the appellant contends, and that naturally raises the question as to what is the meaning of the expression the day of the Collector's award . In dealing with this question it is relevant to bear in mind the legal character of the award made by the Collector under s. 12. In a sense it is a decision of the Collector reached by him after holding an enquiry as prescribed by the Act. It is a decision, inter alia, in respec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r of the property then the making of the award as properly understood must involve the communication of the offer to the party concerned. That is the normal requirement under the contract law and its applicability to cases of award made under the Act cannot be reasonably excluded. Thus considered the date of the award cannot be determined solely by reference to the time when the award is signed by the Collector or delivered by him in his office; it must involve the consideration of the question as to when it was known to the party concerned either actually or constructively. If that be the true position then the literal and mechanical construction of the words the date of the award occurring in the relevant section would not be appropriate. There is yet another point which leads to the same conclusion. If the award is treated as an administrative decision taken by the Collector in the matter of the valuation of the property sought to be acquired it is clear that the said decision ultimately affects the' rights of the owner of the property and in that sense, like all decisions which affect persons, it is essentially fair and just that the said decision should be communicate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion requires the Collector to give notice of the award immediately after making it. This provision lends support to the view which we have taken about the construction of the expression from the date of the Collector's award in the proviso to s. 18. It is because communication of the order is regarded by the Legislature as necessary that s. 12(2) has imposed an obligation on the Collector and if the relevant clause in the proviso is read in the light of this statutory requirement it tends to show that the literal and mechanical construction of the said clause would be wholly inappropriate. It would indeed be a very curious result that the failure of the Collector to discharge his obligation under s. 12(2) should directly tend to make ineffective the right of the party to make an application under s. 18, and this result could not possibly have been intended by the legislature. It may now be convenient to refer to some judicial decisions bearing on this point. In Magdonald v. The Secretary of State, for India in Council ((1005) 4 Ind. C. 914) Rattigan and Shah Din, JJ. held that under the proviso to s. 18 until an award is announced or communicated to the parties concerned i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd naturally the argument was that communication was irrelevant under s. 33A(2) and limitation would commence as from 'the making of the order without reference to its communication. This argument was rejected by the Bombay High Court and it was hold that it would be a reasonable interpretation to hold that the making of the order implies notice of the said order, either actual or constructive, to the party affected by it. It would not be easy to reconcile this decision and particularly the reasons given in its support with the decision of the same High Court in the case of Jehangir Bomanji (A.I.R 1954 Bom.419). The relevant clause under s. 33A(2) of the Indian Income-tax Act has also been similarly construed by the Madras High Court in O.A.O.A.M. Muthia Chettiar v. The Commissioner of Income-tax, Madras (I.L.R. 1951 Mad. 815). If a person is given a right to resort to a remedy to get rid of an adverse order within a prescribed time , observed Rajamannar, C.J., limitation should not be computed from a date earlier than that on which the party aggrieved actually knew of the order or had an opportunity of knowing the order, and therefore must be presumed to have the knowledge o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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