Law: Land Acquisition Act (I of 1894)

Section: Ss. 18, 20 & 21

Land Acquisition Act (I of 1894), Ss. 18, 20 & 21-Limita tion-Matter for Collector to decide-Collector has jurisdiction to reject time-barred application-[Ahmad Ali Khan v. Secy. of State A I R 1932 Oudh. 180 dissented from].   Where it was argued that when an application under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is made the Collector has no jurisdiction to refuse to make the reference even if the application in his opinion was time-barred   Held, that the Collector has jurisdiction to decide the ques tion whether an application made under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is time-barred or not and refuse to make a reference if it is found to have been made beyond the period of limitation. Reading sections 20 and 21 of the Act together, it is clear that the inquiry by the Court is restricted to a consideration of the objections raised by the interested parties in accordance with subsection (1) of section 18 of the Act. It does not contemplate the decision on the question of limita tion, because that apparently is a matter for the Collector to decide.   Ahmad Ali Khan Alawi v. Secretary of State A I R 1932 Oudh 180 dissented from.   Khetsidas Gangaram v. First Land Acquisition Collector A I R 1946 Cal. 508 ; Mahadeo Krishna Parkar v. Mamlatdar of Alibag A I R 1944 Bom. 200 ; A. K. Subramania Chettlar v. Collector of Coimbatore A I R 1946 Mad. 184 ; S. Attar Singh R. S. Sardar Hira Singh v. Secretary of State A I R 1940 Pesh. 35 and Fazal Karim and others v. The Secretary of State for India A I R 1934 Lah. 589 (2) approved. JUDGMENT   A. R. CHANGEZ, J.-This writ petition by Bashir Ahmad, Muhammad Rafique and Mst. Hanifan is directed against the order of the Land Acquisition Collector, Multan, dated the 10th of November 1959, whereby he dismissed the application of the petitioners filed before him under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, requiring him to make a reference to the Court concerned as regards their objection to the amount of compensation.   The relevant facts giving rise to this writ petition are these. The petitioners werepermanent allottees of 12 acres and 3 marlas of land situated in…