High Court · 2025

Mr. D.S. Bora, St anding Counsel for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand / respondent nos. 1 t o 3.

3. Mr. Harsh Raut ela, Advocat e, holding brief of Mr. Shobhit Saharia, Advocat e for respondent no. 4.

4. Appellant filed WPMS No. 1658 of 2011 seeking t he following reliefs: - “ A. I ssue a w rit , order or dir ect ion in t he nat ure of Mandam us dir ect ing t he respondent s t o pay t he com pensat ion of 25 Nalis 12 Mut his land acquired of village I neeya, Pat t i- Sarj yula, along wit h solat ium @ 30% and t he int er est t her eof per annum from t he dat e of acquisit ion of land t ill t he act ual paym ent is m ade. B. I ssue a writ , order or dir ect ion in t he nat ure of Mandam us dir ect ing t he respondent s t o pay t he ex em plary cost s @ 10 Lacs t he pet it ioner.” t o

5. The aforesaid writ pet it ion was dism issed by learned Single Judge, j udgm ent dat ed

28.08.2017. Challenging t he said j udgm ent , t his int ra- court appeal has been filed by t he appellant .

6. Appellant cont ended t hat 67.6 Nali belonging t o him sit uat e in Village Khem da, Pat t i Sarj yula, Dist rict Tehri Garhwal was acquired for Tehri Hydro Proj ect in t he year 1980, however, he was paid com pensat ion only for 41.10 Nali, and in t he writ pet it ion, he had sought a direct ion t o t he aut horit ies t o release t he com pensat ion for 25.12 Nali land for which com pensat ion was not allegedly paid t o him . Appellant cont ended t hat at t he t im e of acquisit ion of land, he was a young boy, who had no idea about what was going on, and he cam e t o know about non- paym ent of com pensat ion t he rem aining land, t he year 2007 when t he aut horit ies visit ed t he village and expressed t heir int ent ion t o ret urn t he land t o t he t enure holder or t ransfer it t o som e ot her agency.

7. Learned counsel t he respondent s have drawn at t ent ion of t his Court t o t he docum ent enclosed as Annexure- 8 t o t he writ pet it ion, which is an order dat ed 26.05.2011 passed by Dist rict Magist rat e/ Direct or, Rehabilit at ion, Tehri Garhwal. Perusal of t he said order reveals t hat t he appellant had approached t he Grievance Redressal Cell wit h t wofold prayers, nam ely, paym ent of com pensat ion for 25.12 Nali land and allot m ent of a shop.

8. Regarding t he fir st prayer, t he Grievance Redressal Cell observed t hat unpaid com pensat ion, appellant can seek a reference and approach t he Dist r ict Judge concerned. Regarding t he allot m ent of shop, Grievance Redressal Cell held t hat since land belonging t o appellant was not adj acent t o t he nat ional highway, t her efore, as per policy, he is not ent it led t o allot m ent of shop.

9. Learned counsels for t he respondent s subm it t hat appellant did not challenge t he order passed by Grievance Redressal Cell on 26.05.2011 and filed writ pet it ion seeking a direct ion t o t he aut horit ies t o pay com pensat ion for 25.12 Nali land. He subm it s t hat learned Writ Court has right ly dism issed t he writ pet it ion, as t here was unexplained delay and laches of m ore t han 30 years.

10. This Court finds subst ance t he said subm ission. Since t he appellant had earlier approached before Grievance Redressal Cell com pensat ion, by filing a represent at ion, which was disposed of by observing t hat appellant can approach t he Dist rict Judge concerned, as per Land Acquisit ion Act , and inst ead of approaching t he Dist rict Judge, he filed writ pet it ion wit h delay of m ore t han 30 years, t herefore, learned Single Judge was j ust ified in dism issing t he writ pet it ion on t he ground of delay and laches.

11. We concur wit h t he order passed by learned Single Judge. There is no scope for int erference.

12. The Special Appeal fails and is dism issed. No order as t o cost s. ( A sh i sh N a i t h a n i , .J.) ( Ma n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , .J.)

28.04.2025 Navin NAVEEN CHANDRA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3be23325146e76a0642bdf4943fb9046f487 df006da82a131bb4e4403d3c0a15, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=18167EEFB5CA8CFFD421A103819DA 875643AF56D653D095C6ED9A86DAAB21CE5, cn=NAVEEN CHANDRA