Raigarh, Chhattisgarh v. 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur
Case Details
1 Digitally signed by NADIM MOHLE 2025:CGHC:7296 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 1211 of 2019 Munku Rathiya S/o Late Jag Lal Rathiya Aged About 35 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, District Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Petitioner versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District Raigarh, : 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1315 of 2019 Karam Singh S/o Asharam Rathiya Aged About 62 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director , Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 2 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1319 of 2019 Banash Kumar S/o Madhu Rathiya Aged About 38 Years R/o Village Baraoud , Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area , Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1342 of 2019 Sampat Singh S/o Alahit Rathiya, Aged About 41 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. ---Petitioner Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manger , South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue ) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, --- Respondent(s) Chhattisgarh. with 3 WPC No. 1409 of 2019 Munudai W/o Nanki Ram Aged About 68 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, Disrtict- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh, Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, Disrtict- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, Disrtict- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1179 of 2019 Set Kumar S/o Late Ghur Sai Aged About 32 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. ---Petitioner Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1208 of 2019 Jageshwar S/o Dokariya Aged About 28 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 4 2 - General Manger South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh,, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharg Officer (Revenue) South Eastenr Coalfeild Limited Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) With WPC No. 2616 of 2019 Parwati W/o Munshi Ram Aged About 58 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 2614 of 2019 Rohit Kumar Mahra S/o Ram Lal Mahra Aged About 33 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. ---Petitioner Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Raod, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 5 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1193 of 2019 Raymoti Wd/o Charan Singh Aged About 30 Years R/o Village Baraoud, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road Bilaspur District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 2 - General Manager South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh, District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) with WPC No. 1325 of 2019 Banash Kumar S/o Madhu Rathiya Aged About 38 Years R/o Village Baraouda, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner 2 - General Manger South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh, Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, --- Respondent(s) Chhattisgarh. 6 with WPC No. 1336 of 2019 Kripa Ram S/o Ram Aged About 47 Years R/o Village Baraound, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh ---Petitioner Versus 1 - South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Through Managing Director, Office At Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 2 - General Manager, South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh, District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 3 - Incharge Officer (Revenue ) South Eastern Coalfield Limited, Raigarh Area, Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh 4 - Collector Raigarh District Raigarh Chhattisgarh., District : Raigarh, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) For Respective Respondent(s) : :
Legal Reasoning
Mr. Yogesh Chandra, Advocate Mr. S. P. Kale, Additional Advocate General, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Bajpai, Advocate & Mr. Atul Kumar Kesharwani, Advocate Hon’ble Shri Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey Order on Board 10/02/2025 1. Heard on admission. 2. Since common questions of law and facts are involved in these writ petitions, they are clubbed together, heard together and finally decided by this common order. 3. In this batch of petitions, the petitioners have claimed compensation of land acquisition as per market value under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation 7 and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act, 2013”) and sought quashing of the order dated 21.02.2019. 4. The facts of the present case are that a notification under Section 4 of the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition & Development) Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act, 1957”) was issued by the respondents on 29.12.2006 for the acquisition of 977.39 acres of tenancy land of Village Baroud, Tehsil Gharghoda, District Raigarh. A notification under Section 9 of the Act, 1957 was issued on 16.12.2010 and published on 25.12.2010. The award was passed in the year 2013 by the Land Acquisition Officer. 5. There were two schemes for acquisition: first, the clubbing concept and second; the descending order. According to the clubbing concept, for every two acres of land acquired, one member of the land oustee would get employment. It was also provided that for more than two acres of land, the land oustees could either apply for employment or accept compensation of 5 lakh per acre. ₹ 6. Under the descending order scheme, a cut off point would be set and the land oustees or their dependents would get employment accordingly. An example was provided in the circular: if 13.75 acres of land is acquired, six persons may get employment. The land oustee would not claim compensation for the remaining 1.75 acres. In alternative, he may claim two employments and for the remaining four employments, he/she may either claim compensation of 5 lakh per ₹ 8 acre or claim compensation in lieu of employment at the same rate. 7. It appears that a tripartite meeting was convened between SECL, the District Collector, and the land oustees on 15.12.2015, where the village Sarpanch and villagers accepted the descending order scheme. The petitioners accepted compensation against land acquisition in 2017, and the amount of compensation was deposited in 2017–18. 8. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners have not been offered employment in lieu of land acquisition. He argued that just and proper compensation has not been paid and that the petitioners are entitled to compensation under the Act, 2013. He referred to the clubbing concept scheme issued by the district-level rehabilitation committee and submitted that for land exceeding two acres, the petitioners have not been paid compensation at the rate of ₹ 5 lakhs per acre. He further contended that the rejection of the petitioners’ claim for compensation under the Act, 2013 was illegal, arbitrary, and contrary to the provisions of law. 9. On the other hand, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Bajpai, Mr. Vivek Verma and Mr. Atul Kesharwani learned counsels appearing for SECL submitted that the entire land was acquired under the Act, 1957. They further stated that a notification was published by the Central Government on 28.08.2015, clarifying that the Act, 2013 would not apply in cases where the award has already been passed prior to 01.09.2015. A further clarification was issued by the Ministry of Coal, Government of 9 India on 04.08.2017. They also argued that compensation was paid to the petitioners and in most cases; the petitioners have accepted employment in lieu of compensation. They stated that in a few cases. the petitioners have been offered employment and their claims are under consideration. Few petitioners have accepted compensation in lieu of employment; thus, these petitions deserve to be dismissed. 10.Mr. S. P. Kale, learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the State, supported the contentions made by Mr. Bajpai, Mr. Vivek Verma and Mr. Kesharwani. 11. I have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the documents. 12. From a perusal of the documents and the return filed by the respondents, it is apparent that compensation was paid to the petitioners/land oustees and they accepted it in the year 2017. The claims of some petitioners regarding employment are pending consideration. It is also not in dispute that the petitioners/villagers in the tripartite meeting accepted the descending order policy. Therefore, in the opinion of this Court, they are not entitled to any additional compensation. 13. Mr. Bajpai and Mr. Kesharwani further informed that some petitioners have not approached the respondent authorities for employment. It is contended that if the remaining petitioners approach the SECL Authorities, appropriate action shall be taken. 10 14. The employment/compensation status of the petitioners/land oustees as per the report submitted by counsels appearing for SECL is reproduced as under:- Sl. No. 01. Case No. Petitioner(s) Status WPC/1211/2019 Munku Rathiya & 3 others Employment provided to three persons. already 02. WPC/1179/2019 Set Kumar 03. WPC/1193/2019 Raymoti Employment provided to four persons out of five, and one person has accepted monetary compensation lieu of employment. in Employment provided to four persons and one person has monetary accepted compensation lieu of employment. in 04. WPC/1208/2019 Jageshwar Application for employment not received; Employment to be provided in Khata (DOL NO.94) -01; application submitted and same is under scrutiny. 05. WPC/1315/2019 Karam Singh Employment provided to four persons out of nine, and five persons have accepted monetary compensation in lieu of employment. 06. WPC/1319/2019 Banas Kumar Applications for employment have been submitted and same are under scrutiny. 07. WPC/1325/2019 Banas Kumar Applications submitted and matter is under scrutiny. 08. WPC/1336/2019 Kripa Ram Entitled persons have already 11 09. WPC/1342/2019 Sampat Singh 10. WPC/1409/2019 Munudai 11. WPC/2614/2019 Rohit Kumar Mahra 12. WPC/2616/2019 Parwati been provided employment. Employment already provided to three persons and in one account, matter is pending before the learned Part-Time Tribunal, Bilaspur with regard to compensation. Employment provided to all four persons. Employment provided to all two persons. Employment provided to all six persons. 15. Taking into consideration the facts discussed above, this Court is of the opinion that since most of the petitioners have already accepted compensation and employment, they have no right to claim any additional compensation or employment. It is also not in dispute that the petitioners have accepted the descending order policy; therefore, they have no right to claim additional compensation for excess land. 16. It is informed that the applications of some petitioners are pending consideration for employment before the SECL authority, therefore it is directed that the appropriate authority of SECL shall take a decision on those pending applications expeditiously. 17. The petitioners who have not yet submitted applications for employment are at liberty to make application(s) before the respondent authorities, and the SECL authorities are directed to take 12 appropriate action. 18. With the aforesaid observation(s) and direction(s), these writ petitions
Decision
are hereby disposed of. Sd/- Rakesh Mohan Pandey JUDGE Nadim