Sarbeswar Tamuli and 12 Ors v. The Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 11.11.2024

Heard Mr. P. Mahanta, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners, Mr. C. Baruah, the learned CGC appearing on behalf of the NHAI as well as the NHIDCL and Ms. S. Baruah, the learned Government Advocate appears on behalf of the District Administration including the CALA.

¶2The petitioners herein are aggrieved by the determination of compensation by the Competent Authority under Section 3G(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (for short 'the Act of 1956') on the grounds that the Competent Authority have not included the solatium interest as well as the other compensation components as stipulated in Schedule-I to Schedule-III of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (for short 'the Act of 2013') which was made applicable for acquisition made under the National Highways Act, 1956.

¶3Mr. P. Mahanta, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners Page No.# 5/6 submitted that the petitioners are entitled to the additional amounts taking into account the well settled principles of law laid down by the Supreme Court in the Case of National Highways Authority of India vs P. Nagaraju @ Cheluvaiah & Another reported in (2022) 15 SCC 1 and further submitted that in terms with Section 3G(7) of the Act of 1956, it was incumbent upon the Competent Authorities to determine the compensation as per law. He therefore submitted that this is a fit case where this Court ought to exercise the writ jurisdiction in the instant proceedings.

¶4Per contra Mr. C. Baruah, appearing on behalf of the NHAI as well as the NHIDCL submitted that if the petitioners are aggrieved with the compensation, the petitioners had the remedy under Section 3G(5) of the Act of 1956.

¶5This Court has heard the learned counsels appearing on behalf of the parties and has also perused the materials on record. This Court further takes note of Section 3G(5) of the Act of 1956 which categorically mandates that any of the parties to the proceedings being aggrieved as regard the determination of the quantum of compensation, the matter can be referred to the Arbitrator.

¶6Consequently, this Court is not inclined to entertain the instant writ petition in view of the alternative and efficacious remedy available. Accordingly, this Court therefore, disposes of the instant writ petition with a liberty to the petitioners to submit individual representation(s) to the Competent Authority, who, shall upon receipt of the same, shall forward the same to the Arbitrator appointed under Section 3G(5) of the Act of 1956.

¶7In the said proceedings, the petitioner would be at liberty to raise all the issues as regards the inadequacy of the compensation on the basis of the well settled principles of law. Page No.# 6/6

¶8With the above observations and directions the instant writ petition stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010141952022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4723/2022o SARBESWARoTAMULIoANDo12oORSo S/OoHARUMAINAoTAMULI,oVILL.-oGAURISAGARo(PHUKANPHOIDIA),oP.O.o ANDoP.S.oGAURISAGARo(PHUKANPHODIA),oDIST.-oSIVASAGAR,oASSAM-o 785664. 2:oMD.oDILWARoHUSSAIN oS/OoLATEoHOONFERoALI oVILL.-oKUKURAPOHIA oP.O.-oBANMUKH oASSAM-o785663. 3:oMD.oRAFIKoALI oS/OoLATEoSECONDARoALI oP.O.-oDEHAJAN oDEMOW oASSAM-o785662. 4:oMD.oPUTULoAHMED oS/OoLATEoSEKENDARoALI oVILL-oDEHAJAN oP.O.-oDEMOW oASSAM-o785662. 5:oNIRMALoCH.oGOGOI oS/OoSUNARAMoGOGOI oRUPOHIBILLoBHATIAPARoGAON oP.O.-oBHATIAPAR oASSAM-o785667. 6:oBISWANATHoAGARWALLA PageoNo.#o2/6 oS/OoLATEoBHURAMOLoAGARWALLA oVILLAGE-oGAURISAGARo(PHUKANPHOIDIA) oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGARo(PHUKANPHOIDIA) oASSAM-o785664. 7:oSANJOYoAGARWALLA oS/OoLATEoTULARAMoAGARWALLA oVILL.-oGAURISAGAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGAR oDIST.-SIVASAGAR oASSAM-o785664. 8:oASHOKEoKR.oNEOG oS/OoLATEoBHUBANoCH.oNEOG oVILL.-oGAURISAGAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGAR oASSAM-o785664. 9:oBHANUMOTIoSADHANIDAR oW/OoLATEoPUNYAoSADHANIDAR oVILL.-oGAURISAGAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGAR oASSAM-o785664. 10:oKUSHOLoKONWAR oS/OoLATEoBAPUKONoKONWAR oVILL.-oGAURISAGAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGAR oASSAM-o785664. 11:oLOKNATHoDAS oS/OoLATEoSUNARAMoDAS oVILL.-oGAURISAGARo(NAMDANGoSILASAKU) oP.O.-oGAURISAGAR oPIM-o785664 oASSAM. 12:oANNADAoDUTTA oW/OoLATEoJUGANANDAoBORA oVILL.-oGAURISAGAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oGAURISAGAR oASSAM-o785664. PageoNo.#o3/6 13:oANANDARAMoBARUAH oS/O-oLATEoKANAKoCH.oBARUAH oVILL.-oPAVOJAN oP.O.-oAAILAMUKH oASSAM-o785664o VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoOFoMINISTRYoOFoROADoTRANSPORToANDo HIGHWAYS,oNEWoDELHI-o110001. 2:THEoCHAIRMAN oNATIONALoHIGHWAYSoAUTHORITYoOFoINDIA oHAVINGoITSoHEADQUARTERSoAToSECTORo10 oDWARKA oNEWoDELHI oPIN-o110075 oNEWoDELHI. 3:THEoPROJECToDIRECTOR oNATIONALoHIGHWAYSoAUTHORITYoOFoINDIA oREGIONALoOFFICEoAToSANKEToVIHAR oSWARAJoNAGAR oSARUMOTORIA oGUWAHATI-o05 oASSAM. 4:THEoGENERALoMANAGER oNATIONALoHIGHWAYoINFRASTRUCTUREDEVELOPMENToCORPORATIONo (NHIDCL) oPMU oJORHAT o4THoFLOOR oHOTELoJIRONI oNH-37oBYPASS oJORHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785006. 5:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oSIVASAGAR oPIN-o785640 oASSAM. Page No.# 4/6 6:THE ADDITIONAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER LAND ACQUISITION SIVASAGAR PIN- 78560 ASSAM.(COMPETENT AUTHORITY UNDER THE NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ACT 1956) For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. P. Mahanta, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr C. Baruah, CGC Ms. S. Baruah, Govt. Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH