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MUMBAI: The state is expected to be a model litigant and cannot take possession of a citizen's private property without following the due process of law, the Bombay High Court has ruled. Nineteen years after the state took possession of a private land in Dhule for an irrigation project, a division bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sunil Deshmukh directed the government to pay rental compensation to six farmers. "The state is not empowered to take possession of a citizen's land without following due process of law,'' said the judges, adding, "Even in case of urgency, the state cannot take possession of the land without following the provisions under Section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act.'' The court castigated the state's stand that it was not entitled to pay any rental compensation to the farmers. "To take possession of citizens' land dehors the provisions of law and then to contend that they are not entitled to rental compensation does not lie in the mouth of the state, which is expected to be a model litigant,'' said the court. Under Indian laws, the right to personal property is not absolute. Though the Constitution provides for a person to possess property, the state has been empowered to take possession of the land under the Land Acquisition Act. A citizen can approach the court, if proper procedures were not followed. In the present case, the land of the Dhule farmers was taken over by the government for an irrigation project in 1993. But the award of the compensation for the land was decided only in 1998. In 2010, the six farmers approached the government to seek rental compensation for the five years. The government refused, pointing to the delay of over 10 years in making the claims. The court did not accept the government's contention. "It is the state, which has committed an illegality,'' said the judges. "It is a well-settled principle of law that right to property is recognized as a constitutional right,'' said the high court, ruling that the farmers were entitled to payment of rent for the land by the government. The HC directed the state to take a decision on the rental compensation to be paid to the farmers within two months. It further asked the state to make the payment in another three months. |
| SOURCE: The Times of India |
