Chennai: The First Bench of the Madras High
Court on Saturday dismissed appeals by landowners against a single
judge order relating to an award of the Special Tahsildar
(Land Acquisition) Tamil Nadu Housing Board Schemes, Nandanam,
for acquiring 16.82 acres at Nerkundram on the city outskirts.
Dismissing writ appeals, the bench,comprising Chief Justice
M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam said the impugned award
was not hit by Sec 11-A (period within which an award shall be
made.) It noted that the interim awards passed and the
notification was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court and
had been passed within two years as provided in the provision.
Earlier, petitions filed by B Gurubackiam and four
others, who purchased the lands from the original owners in
1995,prayed for a direction to call for records of the Special
Tahsildar relating to an Oct 31 1997 award and quash it.
The first notification was published on June 11 1975 and
an enquiry was held, in which vendors of appellants filed
objections, which were ultimately rejected. The first draft
declaration was published in 1978 and also in 1980.
The original owners, after failing to get the notification
quashed, sold the lands to the present appellants, who later
filed the petitions challenging the award on the ground it had
not been passed within two years from the date of Declaration
and so the entire proceeding had lapsed by virtue of the
provisions of Section 11A of the Act.
The single Judge dismissed the writ petitions holding that
the impugned award was not hit by the proviso to Section 11-A
of the Act and hence the present batch of appeals.
PTI
