LI Network
Published on: January 22, 2024 at 11:00 IST
The Bombay High Court has emphasized that the State cannot evade its responsibility toward individuals from whom private property has been expropriated solely based on delay.
The Court, comprising Justice BP Colabawalla and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, condoned a 40-year delay in approaching the court for compensation related to land acquisition by the State.
The bench stated, “The State cannot, on the ground of delay and laches, evade its responsibility towards those from whom private property has been expropriated.” It further noted that considering the length of the delay, the Court must assess whether the acts done during the interval have affected either party in a manner that disrupts the balance in delivering justice.
The Court asserted that denying the petitioners the opportunity for their writ petition to be considered purely based on the ground of delay would be unjust.
In this specific case, the Bhadani family from Thane approached the High Court seeking relief upon discovering that their land had allegedly been taken over by MSEDCL in 1984 to establish a sub-station and staff quarters without proper compensation. MSEDCL claimed to have initiated land acquisition proceedings in 1986 after taking possession in 1984, with the sub-station built in 1993.
The State company argued that the compensation plea from the Bhadani family was invalid due to a nearly 40-year delay.
The Court, however, held that the petitioners had indeed made a case for compensation for the land handed over. It was further decided that vacating the Subject Land and handing it over to the petitioners was not feasible due to multiple stakeholders having an interest in its use. Consequently, the court directed the Collector, Thane, to compute the compensation payable to the petitioners under the provisions of the 2013 Act and pass an award.
Case Title: Rajeev Kumar Damodarprasad Bhadani & Ors. vs The Executive Engineer, MSEDCL & Ors.