Rival Claims To Compensation For Bilaspur-Ugra Highway Land: Chhattisgarh HC Gives Collector 45 Days From Order Receipt To Decide Section 64 Application

The petitioners and private respondents Nos. 6 and 7 disputed entitlement to compensation for land bearing Khasra No. 792/2k, acquired for construction of the Bilaspur–Ugra highway.

In an earlier proceeding, WPC No. 3158 of 2022, the Court had permitted respondents Nos. 6 and 7 to apply to the Collector under Section 64 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, and directed the Collector to decide the application.

Respondent No. 6 subsequently applied under Section 64; the petitioners filed a reply and representation dated 19 March 2025, but the application remained undecided.

The petitioners therefore sought a direction requiring the Collector to decide it.

Section 64 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was the statutory basis of respondent No. 6’s application.

The Court’s direction required the Collector to decide the application expeditiously and in accordance with law; it did not determine the merits of the compensation dispute.

The Court noted that the application had been pending since the earlier proceedings and that the present petition sought only a direction for its disposal.

In view of the State’s submission that the application would be decided if still pending, the Court directed the Collector to determine it within a fixed period. It expressly left the entitlement dispute and merits of the application for the Collector to decide independently, in accordance with law.

The Court clarified that its order expressed no opinion on the merits and that the Collector must decide the application on its own merits and in accordance with law.