Competing Claims To Road-Acquisition Compensation: Chhattisgarh HC Directs Trial Court To Conclude Suit, Preferably Within 8 Months

The petitioner brought a suit seeking declaration of title and permanent injunction over land he claimed to have purchased by registered sale deed.

Part of the land was acquired for a bypass road, but the compensation was determined in respondent No. 1’s name.

Respondent No. 1, who also claimed to have purchased the land, filed a counterclaim and sought a temporary injunction against disbursement of compensation to the petitioner.

The trial court rejected her injunction application, observing that the plaintiff and defendants Nos. 1 and 4 were in possession and cultivating the land.

The petitioner and respondent No. 1 separately appealed; both appeals were dismissed. In this petition under Article 227, the petitioner asked the High Court to direct expeditious disposal of the pending suit rather than decide the petition on its merits.

Article 227 of the Constitution of India provides the High Court’s supervisory jurisdiction over subordinate courts.

Under the principles governing temporary injunctions under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, interim relief is assessed by reference to prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable injury.

Where rival claims to title, possession and entitlement to compensation raise disputed questions of fact, those questions are to be determined after the parties lead evidence; the Court did not determine the merits of those claims in this petition.

The parties relied on competing claims of purchase and asserted entitlement to compensation for the acquired land.

The High Court considered title, possession and entitlement to compensation disputed factual matters that required evidence and could not appropriately be resolved in the writ proceedings.

Since the petitioner sought expedition of the suit, and respondent No. 1 did not oppose that request, the Court disposed of the petition by directing the trial court to proceed promptly, without deciding the parties’ substantive claims.

The parties were expected to cooperate and avoid unnecessary adjournments.

The interim order dated 11 May 2022 was vacated.