SOLANKI JAVANJI DAHYAJI SINCE DECEASED THROUGH HEIRS vs STATE OF GUJARAT
- Court
- Gujarat High Court
C/SCA/20299/2019 (GJHC240544802019) JUDGMENT DATED: 31/08/2026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20299 of 2019
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 19003 of 2019
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20425 of 2019
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20426 of 2019
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 20615 of 2019
With
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 22678 of 2019
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SOLANKI JAVANJI DAHYAJI SINCE DECEASED THROUGH HEIRS & ORS.
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
==========================================================
Appearance:
ADVOCATE NOTICE SERVED for the Petitioner(s) No. 9
ADVOCATE NOTICE UNSERVED for the Petitioner(s) No. 21,5.1
DECEASED LITIGANT for the Petitioner(s) No. 1.1,15,16,2,2.2,2.4
DECEASED LITIGANT THROUGH LEGAL HEIRS/ REPRESTENTATIVES
for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,12,17,3,4,5
MR ADITYA S PATEL(12087) for the Petitioner(s) No.
10,11,1.2,12.1,12.2,12.3,12.4,13,1.3,14,17.1,17.2,17.3,18,20,2.1,22,2.3,2.5,3.
1,3.2,4.1,4.2,5.3,5.4,5.5,5.6,6,7
MR C B UPADHYAYA(3508) for the Petitioner(s) No. 2.6
MR SANJAY UDHWANI, ASSISTANT GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the
Respondent(s) No. 1,2,3
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CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS.
JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.N.RAY
Date : 31/08/2026
ORAL JUDGMENT
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL)
1. By means of the present set of writ petitions pending
since 2019, the petitioners herein seek to challenge the orders
of rejection of applications under Section 18 of the Land
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C/SCA/20299/2019 (GJHC240544802019) JUDGMENT DATED: 31/08/2026
Acquisition Act, 1894 passed by the Collector/ Deputy
Collector/ Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Officer for
Dharoi Vatrak and other schemes on the ground of delay.
2. The petitioners herein would submit that that in a land
acquisition proceedings, with respect to the land-in-question,
the land acquisition award was passed on 29.06.2005 under
Section 11(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. No notice as
prescribed under Section 12(2) of the Land Acquisition Act,
1894 was ever served on the petitioners. The petitioners,
however, filed their applications before the Special Land
Acquisition Officer objecting to the land acquisition award,
which was inadvertently misplaced. The application under
Section 18 was filed on 29.06.2006. The said application was
proceeded after a period of 11 years when by a notice dated
02.02.2017, the petitioners were required to remain present
before the Deputy Collector/ Land Acquisition Officer to show
cause as to why the reference applications moved by them
may not be rejected on the ground of delay. A reminder to the
said notice was again received on 07.06.2017 in the shape of
show cause notice.
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C/SCA/20299/2019 (GJHC240544802019) JUDGMENT DATED: 31/08/2026
3. The petitioners filed a detailed reply dated 19.06.2017 to
the show cause notice dated 07.06.2017. While submitting
that no notice under Section 12(2) as well as the certified
copy of the award was ever served upon them. Another show
cause notice dated 11.05.2018 came to be issued by the
Special Land Acquisition Officer before rejection of the
applications by order dated 18.07.2018.
4. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners
that issuance of show cause notices after 11 years of filing of
the applications under Section 18 calling upon the petitioners
to show cause as to why their applications be not rejected on
the ground of delay makes it evident that the Deputy
Collector/ Land Acquisition Officer has proceeded with a
predetermined mind, and later rejected the applications under
Section 18 vide orders impugned without giving any reason
therein.
5. It is further submitted that the specific stand of the
petitioners that no notice under Section 12(2) of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 as well as certified copy of the award
was ever served upon the petitioners has not dealt with in the
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C/SCA/20299/2019 (GJHC240544802019) JUDGMENT DATED: 31/08/2026
orders impugned. The orders impugned suffer from vice of
principle of natural justice and being bereft of reasons, cannot
be allowed to stand.
6. In response to the said stand of the petitioners in the
writ petitions, suffice is to note that the order impugned of
rejection of applications under Section 18 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894 does not state the reasons for rejection
and does not give any other reason of rejection of the
applications under Section 18 other than stating that the
applications deserve dismissal because of the delay.
7. The specific stand of the petitioners explaining the delay
in filing the applications under Section 18 have not been dealt
with. This is sufficient to set aside the orders impugned.
However, it may also be noted that in the affidavit-in-reply
filed on behalf of the Competent Authority/ Deputy Collector,
Land Acquisition Officer, it is admitted that no record of
notice under Section 12(2) of the Act, 1894 could be found in
the office of the Special Land Acquisition Officer, which
further substantiates the stand of the petitioners that they
have not been duly served with the mandatory notice of
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C/SCA/20299/2019 (GJHC240544802019) JUDGMENT DATED: 31/08/2026
intimation of the award under Section 12(2) of the Act, 1894.
8. For the aforesaid, the orders of rejection of applications
under Section 18 filed by the petitioners in the year 2006, are
hereby quashed and set aside. The Deputy Collector/ Special
Land Acquisition Officer is directed to forward the
applications for making reference moved by the petitioners
before the Competent Civil Court for registering the case
under Section 18 of the Act, 1894 for its decision on merits.
The process of forwarding of the applications, filed by the
petitioners in the year 2006, to the competent court shall be
completed within a period of two weeks from the date of
receipt of the copy of this order.
9. With the above, the present set of writ petitions stand
allowed. No order as to costs.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, CJ )
(D.N.RAY,J)
A. B. VAGHELA
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