Reportable

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO.2794  OF 2011 [Arising out of SLP [C] No.26410 of 2010]

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India … Appellant

Vs.

Subodh Singh & Ors. … Respondents

J U D G M E N T

R.V.RAVEENDRAN, J.

Leave granted.

2. The first respondent was the owner of lands bearing Gata Nos.106,  

118,  119,  123,  126  and  145  in  village  Kakrahi,  District  Auraiya,  Uttar  

Pradesh. The said lands, among others, were acquired for a special railway  

project, that is, the Dedicated Freight Corridor at Kanpur (Rural), Auraiya  

and Etava Districts. The acquisition was under chapter IVA of the Railways  

Act,  1989 (‘Act’ for short)  which dealt  with land acquisitions for special

railway  projects.  A  notification  dated  10.6.2008  (gazetted  on  10.6.2008)  

under section 20A(1) of the Act was published by the Central Government  

declaring its intention to acquire lands in question for execution of a special  

railway  project.  This  was  followed  by  a  declaration  dated  12.12.2008  

(gazetted on 16.12.2008) under section 20E(1) of the Act declaring that the  

lands mentioned therein should be acquired for the purpose mentioned in the  

notification under section 20A(1) of the Act. On such declaration, the land  

vested  absolutely  in the Central  Government  free from encumbrances,  in  

view of the vesting provision in section 20E(2) of the Act. A public notice  

referring to the notifications dated 10.6.2008 and 12.2.2008 under section  

20A(1) and 20E(1) of the Act and inviting claims from all persons interested  

in the lands was published by the competent authority in two newspapers  

(Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran) dated 20.2.2009. Thereafter an order dated  

8.2.2010  was  made  by  the  competent  authority  determining  the  

compensation payable, under section 20F(1) of the Act.  

3. The first respondent filed W.P.No.14945/2010 for quashing the award  

dated 8.2.2010 and for a declaration that the entire acquisition proceedings  

stood lapsed under section 20F(2) of the Act, as the award was not made  

within one year from the date of publication of the date of declaration dated  

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12.12.2008.  A  Division  bench  of  the  High  Court  allowed  the  said  writ  

petition by the impugned order dated 12.5.2010. It quashed the award dated  

8.2.2010 and declared  that  the  acquisition proceedings  stood lapsed.  The  

said decision was based on the following findings recorded by the division  

bench :  

(a) The award was made beyond one year from the date of publication of  

the declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act.

(b) The benefit  of the first proviso to section 20F(2) of the Act which  

enabled  the  competent  authority  to  make  the  award  within  an  

extended period of six months (after the expiry of one year specified  

in section 20F(2) of the Act) was not available to save the acquisition,  

as the competent authority failed to record in writing any reason to  

show  that  he  was  satisfied  that  the  delay  was  caused  due  to  

unavoidable circumstances.

Questions for consideration

4. Feeling aggrieved the appellant has filed this appeal.  The appellant  

contends that the award was validly made within one year from the date of  

declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act, as it was made within one year  

from 20.2.2009,  the  date  on  which  public  notice  of  the  said  notification  

dated  12.12.2008  was  published  in  the  newspapers.  According  to  the  

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appellant,  where  the  publication  is  made  in  the  official  gazette  and  the  

newspapers,  the last of the dates of such publication shall  be the date of  

publication of the declaration. It is alternatively contended that as the award  

was made within 18 months of the date of publication of the declaration, the  

acquisition did not lapse. On the contentions urged the following questions  

arise for consideration :

(i) Whether the period of one year, stipulated under section 20F(2) of the  

Act,  for  making  the  award,  has  to  be  reckoned  from the  date  of  

publication of the declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act in the  

official gazette or from the date of any subsequent publication of the  

declaration in newspapers?

(ii) Whether an award made within six months after the expiry of one year  

from the date of publication of the declaration, is valid under the first  

proviso to section 20F(2) of the Act, even if reasons are not recorded  

by the competent authority in writing to show that he was satisfied  

that the delay had been caused due to unavoidable circumstances?

The relevant legal provisions      

5. A reference to the relevant provisions will  be necessary to provide  

answers  to  these  questions.  Chapter  IVA  was  inserted  in  the  Act  by  

Amendment Act 11 of 2008 with effect from 31.1.2008. The said chapter is  

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a  self  contained  code  in  regard  to  land  acquisitions  for  special  railway  

projects.  

5.1) Sub-section 20A relates to power to acquire land and reads thus :

“20A. Power to acquire land, etc.: (1) Where the Central Government is  satisfied that for a public purpose any land is required for execution of a  special  railway project,  it  may,  by notification,  declare  its  intention  to  acquire such land.  

(2) Every  notification  under  sub-section  (1),  shall  give  a  brief  description of the land and of the special railway project for which the  land is intended to be acquired.  

(3) The State Government or the Union Territory, as the case may be,  shall  for  the  purposes  of  this  section,  provide  the  details  of  the  land  records to the competent authority, whenever required.  

(4) The  competent  authority  shall  cause  the  substance  of  the  notification to be published in two local newspapers, one of which shall be  in a vernacular language.  

5.2) “Special railway project” is defined in section 2(37A) of the Act and  

means a project, notified as such by the central government from time to  

time, for providing national infrastructure for a public purpose in a specified  

time-frame,  covering  one  or  more  states  or  the  union  territories.  

Clauses (7A) and (26) of section 2 of the Act define “competent authority”  

and notification as under :

“2(7A). ‘competent authority’ means any person authorized by  the Central Government, by notification, to perform the functions of the  competent authority for such area as may be specified in the notification.

2(26). ‘notification’  means  a  notification  published  in  the  Official Gazette.”

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5.3) Section 20B deals with power to enter for survey etc.  Section 20C  

relates  to  evaluation  of  damages  during  survey,  measurement  etc.  

Section 20D provides for hearing of objections to the acquisition.  

5.4) Section  20E  deals  with  declaration  of  acquisition  and  the  same  is  

extracted below :

“20E. Declaration of acquisition : (1) Where no objection under subs- section  (1)  of  section  20D has  been  made  to  the  competent  authority  within the period specified therein or where the competent authority has  disallowed  the  objections  under  sub-section  (2)  of  that  section,  the  competent authority shall, as soon as may be, submit a report accordingly  to  the  Central  Government  and  on  receipt  of  such  report,  the  Central  Government shall declare, by notification, that the land should be acquired  for the purpose mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 20A.  

(2) On the  publication of  the  declaration under  sub-section (1),  the  land  shall  vest  absolutely  in  the  Central  Government  free  from  all  encumbrances.  

(3) Where in respect  of any land, a notification has been published  under sub-section (1) of section 20A for its acquisition, but no declaration  under sub-section (1) of this section has been published within a period of  one  year  from  the  date  of  publication  of  that  notification,  the  said  notification shall cease to have any effect :  

Provided that in computing the said period of one year, the period during  which  any  action  or  proceedings  to  be  taken  in  pursuance  of  the  notification issued under sub-section (1) of section 20A is stayed by an  order of a court shall be excluded.  

(4) A  declaration  made  by  the  Central  Government  under  sub-  section (1) shall not be called in question in any court or by any other  authority.”  

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5.5) Section  20F  deals  with  determination  of  amount  payable  as  

compensation. Sub-sections 1, 2 and 4 which are relevant for our purpose  

are extracted below :

“20F. Determination of amount payable at compensation – (1) Where  any land is acquired under this Act, there shall be paid an amount which  shall be determined by an order of the competent authority.  

(2) The competent authority shall make an award under this section  within  a  period  of  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  publication  of  the  declaration  and  if  no  award  is  made  within  that  period,  the  entire  proceedings for the acquisition of the land shall lapse :  

Provided that the competent authority may, after the expiry of the period  of  limitation,  if  he  is  satisfied  that  the  delay  has  been  caused  due  to  unavoidable circumstances, and for the reasons to be recorded in writing,  he may make the award within an extended period of six months.  

Provided further that where an award is made within the extended period,  the entitled person shall, in the interest of justice, be paid an additional  compensation for the delay in making of the award, every month for the  period so extended, at the rate of not less than five per cent of the value of  the award, for each month of such delay.

xxx xxx xxx

(4) Before proceeding to determine the amount under sub-section (1)  or sub-section (3), as the case may be, the competent authority shall give a  public notice published in two local newspapers, one of which shall be in a  vernacular language inviting claims from all persons interested in the land  to be acquired.”  

xxx xxx xxx

Re : Question (i)

6. Sub-section (1) of section 20E of the Act provides that  the central  

government shall, on receipt of the report of the competent authority, declare  

by notification that the land should be acquired for the purpose mentioned in  

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section 20A(1). Sub-section (2) of section 20E of the Act provides that on  

the  publication  of  such  declaration  by  notification,  by  the  central  

government,  under  sub-section  (1),  the  lands  shall  vest  absolutely  in  the  

central  government free from all  encumbrances. Clause (26) of section 2  

defines  “notification”  as  a  notification  published  in  the  official  gazette.  

Section 20E thus requires the notification to be published only in the official  

gazette.  The section does not require the notification of declaration to be  

published in any newspaper or by any other mode. By way of contrast, we  

may refer to section 20A(4) relating to preliminary notification and 20F(4)  

relating to public notice inviting claims before making the award of the Act.  

Section 20A(4) requires that in addition to publication of a notification by  

the central government,  of the  declaration of its intention to acquire any  

land, the competent authority shall cause the substance of the notification to  

be published in two local newspapers one of which will be in a vernacular  

language.  Section  20F(4)  of  the  Act  requires  that  before  proceeding  to  

determine  the  compensation,  the  competent  authority  shall  give  a  public  

notice  in  two  local  newspapers  inviting  claims.  Wherever  newspaper  

publication is required, it has been specifically provided by the legislature.  

The  absence  of  a  similar  provision  in  section  20E  for  publication  in  

newspapers,  makes  it  clear  that  the  publication  of  the  declaration  under  

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section 20E(1) is complete when it is published in the official gazette. The  

publication of the notification under section 20E(1), or its substance, in any  

newspaper,  is  not  therefore  a  requirement  under  the  Act.  Even  if  it  is  

published  in  any  newspaper,  such  publication  will  be  only  for  general  

information and will not serve any purpose under the Act.  

7. The appellant submits that a public notice under section 20F(4) of the  

Act  was  published in  two newspapers  on 20.2.2009 notifying  the  public  

about the declaration under section 20E(1) and inviting claims from persons  

interested and consequently, the period of one year should be reckoned from  

20.2.2009  and  not  from 16.12.2008  (date  on  which  the  notification  was  

gazetted).  According  to  appellant,  if  the  date  of  publication  in  the  

newspapers (20.2.2009) is taken into account, the award made on 8.2.2010  

would  satisfy  the  requirement  of  making  the  award  within  one  year  

stipulated in section 20F(2) of the Act. We find no merit in this contention.  

The public notice dated 20.2.2009 published in the newspapers was not a  

publication of the notification of declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act,  

but a public notice required to be issued under sub-section (4) of section 20F  

by  the  competent  authority  inviting  claims,  after  the  publication  of  a  

notification under Section 20E(1) of the Act.  Even if the public notice in the  

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newspapers  dated  20.2.2009,  is  to  be  regarded  as  publication  of  the  

declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act, it would not be of any relevance  

to  calculate  the  period  of  one  year  under  section  20F(2)  of  the  Act.  As  

noticed above what is relevant for the purpose of reckoning the period of one  

year is the date of publication of notification of declaration under section  

20E(1) of the Act in the official gazette and nothing else.

Re : Question (ii))

8. Sub-section  (2)  of  section  20F  of  the  Act  requires  the  competent  

authority to make an award within a period of one year from the date of  

publication of the declaration and provides that if no award is made within  

that period, the entire proceedings for acquisition of land shall lapse. The  

term “publication” in section 20F(2) refers to publication of the declaration  

in the official gazette. In this case, the declaration under section 20E(1) was  

made by a notification dated 12.12.2008 which was published in the official  

gazette on 16.12.2008. Therefore the award ought to have been made within  

one year from 16.12.2008. The award made on 8.2.2010, was clearly beyond  

one year from the date of publication of the declaration. If the benefit  of  

additional period of six months under the first proviso to section 20F(2) is  

taken,  the award made on 8.2.2010 would be in time and the acquisition  

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proceedings would not  lapse.  The question is whether it is permissible to  

do so on the facts of this case.  

9. Though sub-section (2) of section 20F provides that if the award is not  

made  by  the  competent  authority  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  

publication of the declaration, the entire proceedings for acquisition of land  

shall lapse, the proviso thereto enables the competent authority to make the  

award within an extended period of six months if he is  satisfied that the  

delay  had  been  caused  due  to  unavoidable  circumstances  and  reasons  

therefor  are  recorded  in  writing.  In  this  case  admittedly  the  competent  

authority has not recorded any reasons in writing to hold that the delay was  

due to unavoidable circumstances.

10. In view of the inconsistencies and ambiguities in section 20F of the  

Act,  (enumerated  in  para  12  below),  it  becomes  necessary  to  read  the  

provisions  of  the  section  harmoniously.  The  effect  of  such  harmonious  

reading will be as under :  

(a) The  award  has  to  be  made  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  publication of the declaration.  

(b) If  the  competent  authority  is  satisfied  that  the  award could not  be  made within a period of one year due to unavoidable circumstances,  

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which are to be recorded in writing, he could make the award within  eighteen months. The requirement regarding recording of reasons is  not mandatory.  

(c) The acquisition proceedings will stand eclipsed at the end of one year  from the date of publication if no award is made within one year. If no  award  is  made  within  eighteen  months,  the  proceedings  for  acquisitions would lapse.  

(d) If  the  award  is  made  within  eighteen  months,  the  acquisition  will  emerge  out  of  the  eclipse  and  will  not  lapse.  But  additional  compensation will become payable for the period beyond one year, as  provided in the second proviso to section 20F(2). If the reasons are  not  recorded  or  if  the  reasons  are  not  satisfactory,  the  additional  compensation under the second proviso can be at a rate higher than  the minimum of 5% per month stipulated in the second proviso to  section 20F(2).  

11. The award dated 8.2.2010 by the competent authority proceeds on the  

basis that the notification of declaration under section 20E(1) of the Act has  

to be published not only in the official gazette, but also in the form of a  

public  notice  in  two  newspapers  and  that  the  latter  of  the  two  dates  of  

publication would be the date of commencement of the period of one year,  

under  section  20F(2)  of  the  Act.  This  is  evident  from  the  following  

observations in the said award dated 8.2.2010 of the competent authority:

“Thereafter,  the  proposal  for  the  issuance  of  the  notification  for  the  acquisition of land under section 20E of Indian Railways Act and  report  of  the  competent  officer  has  been  presented  before  the  Central  Government. The Central Government issued notification through Gazette  No. Ka.Aa.2903 (A) dated 12.12.2008 for the acquisition of total 1.2180  hectare  land  in  village  Kakahari.  The  publication  of  above  mentioned  

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notification has  been issued  in two daily  newspapers  Amar Ujjala  and  Dainik  Jagran  under  the  amended  provisions  of  section  20E(4)  of  the  Indian Railways Act 1989 on 20.2.2009.”

(emphasis supplied)

It is evident from the award that the competent authority proceeded under  

the bona fide impression that publication of the public notice under section  

20F(4) in the two newspapers (Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran) on 20.2.2009  

referring to the declaration under section 20E(1), subsequent to the date of  

gazette publication (16.12.2008) is also part of the process of publication of  

the  declaration  under  section  20E(1).  As  a  consequence,  he  applied  the  

principle that when publication is required to be made by more than one  

mode, the date of publication by the last of the prescribed modes is the date  

of  publication.  He  therefore  assumed  that  the  date  of  publication  of  the  

public  notice  in  the  two  newspapers  dated  20.2.2009  to  be  the  date  of  

publication of declaration for the purposes of section 20E(1) and 20F(2) of  

the Act and that consequently the award was made within one year from  

such date.   On the facts  of the case and on a harmonious reading of the  

provision of section 20F of the Act, the aforesaid reasoning in the award can  

be treated as the reason for the delay in making the award. The acquisition  

did not, therefore, lapse. However, having regard to the second proviso to  

section 20F(2),  the  land owners  (described as “entitled  persons”)  will  be  

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entitled to additional compensation for the delay in making of the award at a  

rate not less than 5% of the value of the award for each month of delay.  

Certain anomalies in the provisions of Chapter VIA of the Act   

12. Before parting we may refer to several apparent anomalies noticed in  

Chapter  IVA of the Act,  in particular  in section 20F, which requires  the  

attention of the law makers. As neither the validity of Chapter VIA of the  

Act  nor  the  validity  of  any  provision  therein  is  under  challenge  in  this  

appeal, but as we have faced difficulties in the application of section 20F, we  

are referring to some of the anomalies in the provisions of Chapter IVA,  

without pronouncing upon the validity of the provision.

(i) Sub-section  (2)  of  section  20F  provides  that  if  no  award  is  made  

within one year from the date of publication of the declaration, the entire  

proceedings for the acquisition shall lapse. The first proviso to sub-section  

(2) provides that the competent authority may, after the expiry of the period  

of  one  year,  if  he  is  satisfied  that  the  delay  has  been  caused  due  to  

unavoidable circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing,  make  

an award within an extended period of six months. This means that when an  

award  is  not  made  within  one  year  from the  date  of  publication  of  the  

declaration,  the proceedings for acquisition would lapse, but if within six  

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months  of  such  lapsing,  the  competent  authority  makes  an  award  after  

recording reasons for the delay, what stood lapsed would stand revived. But  

if  the acquisition proceedings had already lapsed at  the end of  one year,  

mere  making  of  an  award  thereafter  cannot  revive  the  acquisition  

proceedings, in the absence of any provision in the Act providing for revival  

of the lapsed acquisition.  

(ii) Sub-section (2) of section 20F requires the award to be made by the  

competent authority and the first proviso requires the competent authority to  

record  the  reasons  for  the  delay.  What  are  “unavoidable  circumstances”  

leading to the delay which would enable the competent authority to make an  

award beyond one year, would invariably lead to litigations as to whether  

there were unavoidable circumstances, whenever the award is made beyond  

one year.  As the  consequence of  making an award beyond one year but  

within eighteen months, involving payment of additional compensation, is  

set out in the second proviso to section 20F(2), there is no need for requiring  

the competent authority to record reasons in writing showing that the delay  

was due to unavoidable circumstances.  

(iii) The second proviso to section 20F(2) requires payment of additional  

compensation for the delay in making of the award, at the rate of  not less  

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than five percent of the value of the award, for each month of delay. This  

vests  unguided  discretion  in  the  competent  authority  or  the  Arbitrator  to  

award  additional  compensation  at  any  higher  rate  and  gives  room  for  

unnecessary litigation at the instance of “entitled persons” claiming higher  

percentages as additional compensation. It is necessary to consider whether  

specifying a fixed monthly rate of increase would serve the ends of justice  

better instead of indicating a minimum rate per month.

(iv) Sub-section (1) of section 20F refers to an “order” of the competent  

authority  determining  the  amount  to  be  paid for  the  land acquired.  Sub-

section (2) refers to the competent authority making an “award”. It is not  

clear whether the award by the competent authority is consequential to the  

order that is made under sub-section (1) of section 20F or whether the order  

under sub-section (1)  is  itself  the award referred to in sub-section (2)  of  

section  20F.  Confusion  can  be  avoided  by  using  only  one  of  the  words  

-‘order’  or  ‘award’  -  to  refer  to  the  decision  of  the  competent  authority  

determining compensation, at all places.

(v) Sub-section (4) of section 20F  provides that before determining the  

amount under  sub-section  (1)  or  sub-section (3),  the  competent  authority  

shall give a public notice inviting claims from all persons interested in land  

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to be acquired. The issue of such public notice under section 20F(4) is after  

the  publication  of  notification  of  declaration  under  section  20E(1).  Sub-  

section (2) of section 20E provides that on publication of the declaration, the  

land vests in the central government. If the land has  already vested in the  

government  on  publication  of  the  declaration  under  section  20E(1),  the  

question of issuing a public notice thereafter, inviting claims under section  

20F(4) from persons interested in the lands “to be acquired” does not arise.  

The  words  “to  be  acquired”  may  have  to  be  replaced  by  the  words  

“acquired”.  

(vi) If the land has already vested absolutely in the Central Government  

on publication of  declaration of acquisition in the Official  Gazette  under  

section  20E(1),  it  is  not  clear  how the proceedings for  acquisition could  

lapse if  the award is  not made within one year  or even 18 months.  This  

Court while dealing with other enactments relating to acquisition has held  

that acquisition would not lapse as consequence of not making the award  

within the specified time, if the land had already vested in the government  

and  the  Act  does  not  provide  for  re-vesting  in  the  land  owner.  [See  :  

Satendra Prasad Jain vs. State of U.P. - 1993 (4) SCC 369, Awadh Bihari   

Yadav vs. State of Bihar - 1995 (6) SCC 31,  UP Jal Nigam, Lucknow vs.   

Kalra  Properties  (P)  Ltd. –  1996 (3)  SCC 124,  Allahabad Development   

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Authority vs. Nasiruzzaman – 1996 (6) SCC 424 and Ginnar Traders (3) vs.   

State of Maharashtra – 2011 (3) SCC 1].

(vii) Section 20 I  of  the  Act provides  that  though the land vests  in the  

central government on publication of the declaration under section 20E(1),  

the competent authority can demand the surrender or delivery of possession  

only  after  the compensation  is  determined  under  section  20F  and  is  

deposited under section 20 H. However section 20 J provides that once the  

land vests in the central government on publication of a declaration under  

section 20E(2), it shall be lawful for any persons authorized by the central  

government “to enter and do other act necessary upon the land for carrying   

out  the  building,  maintenance,  management  or  operation  of  the  special   

railway project or part thereof or any work connected therewith”. In other  

words section 20-J enables the central government to enter upon possession  

of the land on publication of the declaration under section 20E, even before  

the award is made,  and carry on the activities connected with the special  

railway project for which the land was acquired. The provisions of section  

20-J  apart  from  being  badly  worded,  are  contrary  to  provisions  of  

section 20-I. Section 20 J would lead to deprivation of possession of the land  

to the land owner without even determining or offering any compensation.  

This requires to be examined and corrected. Further, there is no indication as  

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to what should happen if the central government or person authorized by it  

starts  executing the  special  railway  project  in  the  acquired  land  under  

section 20 J and thereafter, the acquisition lapses on account of the award  

not being made within the time frame mentioned in section 20F(2).  

We have referred to these anomalies  as  they are likely to give room for  

considerable  avoidable  litigation,  in  regard  to  acquisitions  under  Chapter  

IVA of the Act. These anomalies may also defeat the very legislative intent  

to  provide  a  progressive  form of land acquisition  when compared  to  the  

provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Be that as it may.

Conclusion

13. In view of our finding that the acquisition has not lapsed, we allow  

this  appeal,  set  aside  the  judgment  of  the  High  Court,  and  dismiss  the  

challenge to the acquisition. It is however made clear that in view of the  

delay in making the award beyond one year, the first respondent shall be  

entitled to additional compensation as provided under the second proviso to  

section 20F(2) of the Act.  Parties to bear their respective costs.

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14. The  Registry  is  directed  to  send  copies  of  this  order  to  the  Law  

Commission of India and Ministry of Railways.

…………………………..J. (R V Raveendran)

New Delhi; …………………………..J. March  30, 2011. (A K Patnaik)  

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