224 kanal land allotted to 24 DPs | High Court directs Centre to pay Rs 2.49 Cr rental compensation

Srinagar, Dec 15: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, to pay a rental compensation of Rs 2.49 crore to the rightful claimants of 24 displaced persons (DPs) of 1947 to whom 224 kanal of land at Chatha, Jammu was allotted in 1953 by the State government for rehabilitation.

According to the petitioners they are displaced persons of 1947 from Tehsil Bagh Village Dhare, PoK and the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir in its policy to rehabilitate the refugees of 1947, allotted the land to them in 1953.

“The respondents (Defence Ministry, others) are directed to pay the rental compensation which has been assessed by the State government from January 1, 1978, to March 31, 2009, amounting to Rs 2.49 crore to the lawful claimants including the petitioners after necessary verification, within a month, from the date copy of this order is made available to them,” a bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal said in his judgment.

The court also directed the authorities to assess the rental compensation with effect from March 31, 2009, till date in the light of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 within a month and subject to assessment of the same and pay the amount so assessed to the lawful claimants including the petitioners within a month, thereafter.

“It is made clear that if the rental compensation already assessed by the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu for the period January 1, 1978, to March 31, 2009, is not made to the petitioners after verification, the petitioners will be entitled to claim interest at 6 percent per annum from Union of India from the date the same was payable and denied by the respondents,” the court said.

It said that the interest component would also be payable to the petitioners for future rental compensation with effect from April 4, 2009, till date if the same was assessed and paid to the them within time frame granted by it.

The court also held that in case, the land was required by the Center or by any other agency, the same shall be acquired strictly in conformity with the provisions of the act of 2013 and in such eventuality, the compensation be paid to the petitioners after following due process of law and necessary verification.

Before concluding, the court held that a bare perusal of the record revealed that the land measuring 224 kanal 10 marlas of state land falling under Khasra No 2, 3, and 6 was allotted to the DPs of 1947 in the year 1953 by the State government for their rehabilitation under Government Order No 578-C of 195.

“The said land was brought under cultivation by them soon after allotment and proprietary rights were also conferred upon them by mutations attested in their favour by the State government under Government Order No 254-C of 1965 and none of the mutation was ever challenged by the defence authorities,” the court said.

It observed that the record further revealed that the “DPs were the rightful owners of their land, which was later unauthorisedly occupied by the defence forces in 1978”.

The court held that it was an admitted fact that once land was allotted to the DPs for their rehabilitation under G O 578-C of 1954, the same could not be taken away from them by any means or by any of the agencies.

The court noted that the record reveals that the State government had admitted that the allotment orders and mutations attested in favour of the DPs had not been challenged by the Defence authorities before the competent forum for cancellation which has assumed finality.

“Consequently, occupancy tenancy rights under Section 3-A of Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976 have been vested in favour of the petitioners till date”

“The stand of Union of India that all the land of ex-State armed forces, as it stood on September 1, 1949, had been transferred to the Indian Army, post facto, by an agreement made on January 14, 1956, is factually incorrect and cannot sustain in the eyes of law because all the allotments made by the State government was strictly in consonance with law and earlier to the agreement,” the court said.

It underscored that the “Union of India after having accepted the findings recorded by the various Enquiry Committees constituted in this regard is estopped under the law to question the claim of the petitioners at this belated stage, more particularly, when there is no challenge to the same till date”.

“As per existing rules, there is no denial of the fact that once a piece of land is allotted to a Displaced Person for his or her rehabilitation under G O 578-C of 1954, the same cannot be taken away from him or her by any manner, means or by any other agency,” the court said. “The whole spirit behind such a provision is that a Displaced Person, who has once been uprooted from his native place in POK, due to partition should be rehabilitated and not be uprooted again.”

The court observed: “In the instant case, since the Deputy Commissioner has already assessed the rent payable in respect of the land in question for the period January 1, 1978, to March 31, 2009, under rules amounting to Rs 2.49 crore, the same cannot be denied to the petitioners in addition to for the period, thereafter, when the land continues to be occupied by the Union of India.”

The court observed that the “right to property is a constitutional right as envisaged under Article 300 A of the Constitution of India and the petitioners by no stretch of imagination can be deprived of their right to property”.

“The state in the exercise of its power of ‘Eminent Domain’ may interfere with the right of property of a person by acquiring the same but the same must be for a public purpose and therefore, reasonable compensation must be paid,” the court observed.