Allahabad High Court

11. The present writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of."

3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioners that the instant petition be also disposed of in same terms.

4. Shri Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent no.1 & 2 and Shri Fuzail Ahmad Ansari, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel appearing for the State-respondents, does not dispute that the claim of the petitioners is identical, however, they submit that in the matters arising out of acquisition made under the provisions of National Highways Act, 1956, it is the Competent Authority notified by the Central Government, who is competent to declare the award and not the Collector of the district concerned and they submit that this aspect may be clarified by this Court.

5. This Court, recently, while deciding Writ C No. 13489 of 2024 (Rampal Singh and 12 others vs National Highway Authority of India and 2 others) passed an order dated 24.04.2024, considered identical submission made on behalf of N.H.A.I. and observed as under: "6. Section 23 read with Section 31 of the Act, 2013 empowers the Collector to pass rehabilitation and resettlement award for each affected family in terms of the entitlements provided in the second schedule. Under Section 3(g) of the Act, 2013 the Collector has been defined thus:- "(g) Collector means the Collector of a revenue district, and includes a Deputy Commissioner and any officer specially designated by the appropriate Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act;"

7. It is evident from the definition of Collector that it includes any Officer specially designated by the appropriate Government to perform the functions of the Collector under the said Act.

8. In NH Act, the power to declare award is conferred upon the competent authority under Section 3G. The competent authority has been defined under Section 3(a) of the Act of 1956 as follows:- "(a) "competent authority" means any person or authority authorised by 4 WRIC No. 30782 of 2025 the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to perform the functions of the competent authority for such area as may be specified in the notification;"

9. It is not disputed that the Central Government had issued notification on 28.08.2015 under Section 105(3) of the Act, 2013 directing that the provisions relating to the second and third schedule shall apply to all cases of land acquisitions under the enactments specified in the fourth schedule to the said Act. The effect of said notification is to extend the beneficial provisions of the Act, 2013 to the acquisitions made under the NH Act. However, the machinery provided for holding enquiry and determining compensation does not get altered. The same is still to be done in the manner and by the authority stipulated under the Statutes under which acquisition was done. We, therefore, find force in the submission of learned counsel for NHAI that in matters relating to acquisitions under NH Act, it would be the competent authority, as defined under Section 3(a) of NH Act, which would be empowered to examine the claims pertaining to rehabilitation and resettlement and make award accordingly and not the Collector of the district."

6. In view of above, the instant petition stands disposed of with direction to the Competent Authority under National Highways Act, 1956 to proceed with the exercise of examining the claims pertaining to rehabilitation and resettlement and take decision on the said aspect having regard to the provisions of Chapter V of the Act, 2013 within twelve weeks from the date of communication of the instant order. (Anish Kumar Gupta,J.) (Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.) September 4, 2025 Kirti

11. The present writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of."

3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioners that the instant petition be also disposed of in same terms.

4. Shri Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent no.1 & 2 and Shri Fuzail Ahmad Ansari, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel appearing for the State-respondents, does not dispute that the claim of the petitioners is identical, however, they submit that in the matters arising out of acquisition made under the provisions of National Highways Act, 1956, it is the Competent Authority notified by the Central Government, who is competent to declare the award and not the Collector of the district concerned and they submit that this aspect may be clarified by this Court.

5. This Court, recently, while deciding Writ C No. 13489 of 2024 (Rampal Singh and 12 others vs National Highway Authority of India and 2 others) passed an order dated 24.04.2024, considered identical submission made on behalf of N.H.A.I. and observed as under: "6. Section 23 read with Section 31 of the Act, 2013 empowers the Collector to pass rehabilitation and resettlement award for each affected family in terms of the entitlements provided in the second schedule. Under Section 3(g) of the Act, 2013 the Collector has been defined thus:- "(g) Collector means the Collector of a revenue district, and includes a Deputy Commissioner and any officer specially designated by the appropriate Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act;"

7. It is evident from the definition of Collector that it includes any Officer specially designated by the appropriate Government to perform the functions of the Collector under the said Act.

8. In NH Act, the power to declare award is conferred upon the competent authority under Section 3G. The competent authority has been defined under Section 3(a) of the Act of 1956 as follows:- "(a) "competent authority" means any person or authority authorised by 4 WRIC No. 30782 of 2025 the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to perform the functions of the competent authority for such area as may be specified in the notification;"

9. It is not disputed that the Central Government had issued notification on 28.08.2015 under Section 105(3) of the Act, 2013 directing that the provisions relating to the second and third schedule shall apply to all cases of land acquisitions under the enactments specified in the fourth schedule to the said Act. The effect of said notification is to extend the beneficial provisions of the Act, 2013 to the acquisitions made under the NH Act. However, the machinery provided for holding enquiry and determining compensation does not get altered. The same is still to be done in the manner and by the authority stipulated under the Statutes under which acquisition was done. We, therefore, find force in the submission of learned counsel for NHAI that in matters relating to acquisitions under NH Act, it would be the competent authority, as defined under Section 3(a) of NH Act, which would be empowered to examine the claims pertaining to rehabilitation and resettlement and make award accordingly and not the Collector of the district."

6. In view of above, the instant petition stands disposed of with direction to the Competent Authority under National Highways Act, 1956 to proceed with the exercise of examining the claims pertaining to rehabilitation and resettlement and take decision on the said aspect having regard to the provisions of Chapter V of the Act, 2013 within twelve weeks from the date of communication of the instant order. (Anish Kumar Gupta,J.) (Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.) September 4, 2025 Kirti