The Supreme Court in the case M/S. Tirupati Developers v. The Union Territory Of Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Ors observed wherein the division bench comprising of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta observed and has examined the objective of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the 2013 Act while allowing the appeal.
The court in the case observed and has held that for the fair compensation as sated under the act, it being imperative that a fair opportunity of hearing is given to the persons whose rights are affected. The same requires that the interested person is given an effective opportunity to put forth his or her claim.
Therefore, the court allowed the appeal and has directed the competent authority to hear the Appellant’s representations.
Facts of the Case:
In the case, the Appellant is stated to be the owner of land admeasuring 4970 sq. meters bearing Survey No.113/27 situated in Village Amli, Silvassa, Union Territory of Dadra and the Nagar Haveli. Consequently, the Respondent authorities carried out the acquisition under the 2013 Act.
Thereafter, the Collector-Dadra and Nagar Haveli issued the notice on March 04, 2020 to the Appellant as stated under Section 21 of the 2013 Act to appear and raise its objections, if any, concerning the determination of the amount of compensation.
Further, the communication was sent to the Appellant on March 20, 2020 wherein requesting the Collector grant time to submit the objections as the Appellant could not contact its lawyer due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in Mumbai. Without considering that request, the Collector passed the award on 04.05.2020.
Therefore, the Appellant in the case challenged the award in a writ petition before the High Court.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the present appeal.