After 45 Years, J&K HC Orders Market-Rate Compensation For Rajouri Owners Whose Land Was Wrongly Declared Evacuee Property And Allotted To A Displaced Person.

In brief

The question

Whether the petitioners, whose predecessors had been held entitled to restoration of land wrongly declared evacuee property, were entitled to compensation when restoration could not be effected because the land had been allotted to a displaced person.

The court held

The Court disposed of the petition and directed the Revenue Department, Government of J&K, to assess compensation at the prevalent market rate and pay it to the petitioners for the 24 kanals and 1 marla in Khasra No. 51, Thandi Kassi, within eight weeks after a copy of the judgment was made available to the Administrative Secretary of the Revenue Department.

It also directed

Pending applications were also disposed of.

01Facts

The petitioners claimed rights through the owners of 24 kanals and 1 marla of land in Khasra No. 51, Thandi Kassi, Rajouri, which had been declared evacuee property and allotted to a displaced person.

p. 2 · pp. 4–5

In 1981, the Additional Custodian allowed the owners’ claim under Section 8 of the J&K Administration of Evacuees’ (Administration of Property) Act, holding them entitled to restoration because they had not migrated to Pakistan.

pp. 2–3, 5

Restoration was not effected because the land had been allotted and no alternative land was available; the matter was referred for compensation under Section 14-A.

pp. 2–3, 5

Despite subsequent correspondence, neither compensation nor alternative land had been provided, leading to this writ petition.

pp. 3–5

02Issues

i.Whether the petitioners, whose predecessors had been held entitled to restoration of land wrongly declared evacuee property, were entitled to compensation when restoration could not be effected because the land had been allotted to a displaced person.

pp. 5, 7–8

ii.Whether the respondents could be directed to assess and pay compensation for the land, and within what period.

pp. 8–9

03Law Applied

The Court applied Sections 6, 8 and 14-A of the J&K Administration of Evacuees’ (Administration of Property) Act. Section 8 provides a basis for establishing a claim to evacuee property and obtaining restoration; Section 14-A provides for transfer of government property in lieu of property that cannot practicably be restored and permits acquisition of land allotted to a displaced person in the circumstances specified by the provision.

pp. 5–7

The Court treated compensation as an appropriate remedy where the claimants’ entitlement to restoration had been established but the land could not be returned because it was in the possession of an allottee.

pp. 7–8

No judicial precedent was cited.

pp. 5–7

Provisions in the judgment · 9

Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 Section 6Section 8Section 14Section 14Section 14

Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976 Section 3A

State Land Acquisition Act, Samvat 1990 Section 4Section 6Section 7

04Reasoning

The Additional Custodian’s 1981 order established the predecessors’ entitlement to restoration, and that order had attained finality.

p. 5, 8

However, the land had been allotted to a displaced person, and the authorities had reported that no alternative land was available in the village; accordingly, physical restoration was not possible.

p. 5, 8

The respondents had referred the matter for compensation under Section 14-A but had left it unresolved for decades. In those circumstances, the Court held that compensation should be assessed and paid for the land rather than leaving the petitioners without an effective remedy.

pp. 7–8