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REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6638 OF 2010

NARESH KUMAR & ORS.      …..APPELLANTS

VERSUS GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI      …RESPONDENT

WITH CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6637 OF 2010

NARESH KUMAR & ORS.      …..APPELLANTS

VERSUS GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI      …RESPONDENT

J U D G M E N T

Vineet Saran, J.

1. The short question involved in these appeals are, as to

whether under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short ‘the Act’),

after the passing of the Award under Section 11 of the Act, the

Award could be reviewed under any of the provisions of the Act,

specially under Section 13A of the Act.

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2. Brief facts of this case, relevant for the purpose of the

present appeals are, that land of the appellants was sought to be

acquired by a notification dated 23.05.2002 issued under Section 4

of the Act, followed by a declaration under Section 6 of the Act

issued on 17.12.2002.   An Award bearing no.16/03­04 dated

01.10.2003 was passed by the Land Acquisition Collector awarding

compensation of Rs.1,97,08,397/­ in favour of the appellants, out

of which, an amount of Rs.1,87,10,194/­ was paid to the appellants

and the balance amount of Rs.9,98,203/­, along with interest, still

remains to be paid.  

3. Then on 14.07.2004, a Review Award was passed by the

Land Acquisition Collector, reducing the amount of compensation

by Rs.49,39,195/­ on the ground that the compensation ought not

to have been awarded in respect of alleged illegal structures on the

land, which had wrongly been awarded by the Award dated

01.10.2003.   Such amount was thus deducted by the Review

Award.  The appellants were unaware of the said Review Award

having been passed and, in the meantime, a Supplementary Award

dated 27.10.2004 was passed  in  favour of the appellants  for  an

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amount of  Rs.45,36,781.64  paise towards compensation for the

trees on the land which was acquired.  

4. The appellants then filed  Writ Petition (C)  No.2185  of

2008  praying for release of the compensation in respect of the

Supplementary Award dated 27.10.2004.  On having been informed

of the passing of the Review Award No.16/03­04 on 14.07.2004,

which information was furnished to the appellants in response to

an RTI application dated 18.12.2007, the appellants then filed Writ

Petition  (C)  No.381 of  2009 challenging the  Review Award dated

14.07.2004. Both the Writ Petitions were heard together and

dismissed by a common judgment dated 04.03.2010 passed by the

Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, which is under challenge in

the present appeals.  

5. The contention of the learned Counsel for the appellants

is that after the  Award had  been passed on  01.10.2003  under

Section 11 of the Act, the same had become final as per Section 12

of the Act, and the same could not have been reviewed under any

provision of the Act.  It has been contended that the only provision

is for correction of clerical errors etc.  under Section 13A of the Act,

which only permits the Collector to correct any clerical or

arithmetical mistake in the Award, and that too within a period of

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six months and not beyond.  It is thus contended that Award dated

01.10.2003 had attained finality, and could not have been reviewed

under any of the provisions of the Act.   It is lastly contended that

the Supplementary Award dated 27.10.2004 was passed for

compensation of the trees on the land of appellants, which amount

ought to have been paid and the High Court has wrongly denied the

same.  

6. Per contra, learned Counsel for the respondent submitted

that a mistake committed by the Land Acquisition Collector, while

passing the  Award dated  01.10.2003,  could  be  corrected  at  any

time, and in the present case, the Award included the

compensation for the illegal structure,  which  ought  not to  have

been paid to the petitioner as the same would not be payable under

the 8th Clause of Section 24 of the Act.  It has been contended that

a mistake which had occurred in the Award could be corrected by

the Land Acquisition Collector at any time, and in the present case,

the same was done on the instruction of the Secretary, Land and

Building,  which was  duly  approved by the  Lieutenant  Governor.

Though it is submitted that notice of the proceedings in the Review

Award was sent to the appellants, but the same is denied by the

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appellants, who have thus contended that they had no knowledge of

the proceedings of the Review Award.  

7. We have heard learned Counsel for the parties at length

and have perused the material on record.  

8. There is  no provision under the  Land Acquisition  Act,

1894 for review of the Award once passed under Section 11 of the

Act and had attained finality.  The only provision is for correction of

clerical errors in the Award which is provided for under Section 13A

of the Act, which was inserted with effect from 24.09.1984.   The

relevant Section 13A of the Act reads as under:

13A. Correction of clerical errors, etc. –  (1) The Collector may, at any time but not later than six months from the date of the award,  or where he has been required under section 18 to make a reference to the Court, before the making of such reference, by order, correct  any clerical  or  arithmetical mistakes in the award  or errors arising therein either on his own motion or on the application of any person interested or a local authority: Provided that no correction which is likely to affect prejudicially any person shall be made unless such person has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation in the matter.

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(2) The Collector shall give immediate notice of any correction made in the award to all the persons interested. (3) Where any excess amount is proved to  have  been  paid to  any person as a result of the correction made under sub­section (1), the excess amount so paid shall be liable to be refunded and in the case of any default or refusal to pay, the same may be recovered as an arrear of land revenue.

(emphasis supplied)

 A bare reading of the said Section 13A would make it clear

that the same is not a provision for Review of the Award but only for

correction of clerical or arithmetical mistakes in the Award.   It is

further provided in the sub­Section (1) of Section 13A that the said

correction can be made at any time, but not later than six months

from the date of award. In the present case, the Land Acquisition

Collector has actually not made any correction of clerical or

arithmetical  mistake,  but  has in fact reviewed the  Award  dated

01.10.2003 by its  Review Award no.16/03­04 dated 14.07.2004,

which was also clearly passed beyond such period of six months.  

9. In our considered view, the Review Award could not have

been passed under Section 13A of the Act, which is meant only for

correction of any clerical or arithmetical mistake.  There is no other

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provision in the Act under which the said order dated 14.07.2004

could have been passed.   

10. In the present case, the compensation for the structure

on the land has been deducted from the Award dated 01.10.2003

by the Review Award dated 14.07.2004 on the ground of the same

being illegal  structure,  which actually  amounts to  Review of the

Award and   cannot be said  to be a correction of  any clerical  or

arithmetical mistake.   The question whether the structure on the

land of the appellants was legal or illegal could only be decided after

the parties were given opportunity to adduce evidence, which

correction cannot be termed as correction of any clerical or

arithmetical  mistake.  There  being  no  provision under the  Land

Acquisition Act, 1894 for review of the Award, the passing of the

order dated 14.07.2004 in Review Award no.16/03­04 cannot be

justified in law.

11. Section 12 of the Act clearly provides that the Award of

the  Collector shall  become final on the same  being filed in the

Collector’s office, of which the Collector shall give immediate notice

to the persons interested.   From the facts of this case, it is clear

that the Award dated 01.10.2003, of  which due notice had been

given to the appellants and part compensation had also been paid

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to the appellants in pursuance thereto, had become final and the

same could not have been reviewed, and that too beyond a period of

six months, within which period only clerical or arithmetical

mistakes could have been corrected.

12. It is settled law that the power of Review can be exercised

only when the statute provides for the same.  In the absence of any

such  provision in the concerned statute, such  power of  Review

cannot be exercised by the authority concerned.  This Court in the

case of  Kalabharati  Advertising vs.  Hemant Vimalnath Narichania

(2010) 9 SCC 437, has held as under:

“…………… 12. It is settled legal proposition that unless the statute/rules so permit, the review application is not maintainable in case of judicial/quasi­judicial orders. In the absence of any provision in the Act  granting  an express  power  of review, it is manifest that a review could not be made and the order in review, if passed, is ultra vires, illegal and without jurisdiction. (Vide Patel Chunibhai Dajibha v. Narayanrao Khanderao Jambekar [AIR 1965 SC 1457] and Harbhajan Singh v. Karam Singh [AIR 1966 SC 641] .) 13.   In Patel Narshi Thakershi v. Pradyuman Singhji Arjunsinghji [(1971) 3 SCC 844 :

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AIR 1970 SC 1273] , Major Chandra Bhan Singh v. Latafat Ullah Khan [(1979) 1 SCC 321] , Kuntesh Gupta (Dr.) v. Hindu Kanya Mahavidyalaya [(1987) 4 SCC 525 :  1987 SCC (L&S) 491 : AIR 1987 SC 2186] , State of Orissa v. Commr.  of  Land Records and Settlement [(1998) 7 SCC 162] and Sunita Jain v. Pawan Kumar Jain [(2008) 2 SCC 705 : (2008) 1 SCC (Cri) 537] this Court held that the power to review is not an inherent power. It must be conferred by law either expressly/specifically or by necessary implication and in the absence of any provision in the Act/Rules, review of an  earlier order is impermissible as review is a creation of statute. Jurisdiction of review can be derived only from the statute and thus, any order of review in the absence of any statutory provision for the same is a nullity, being without jurisdiction. 14. Therefore, in view of the above, the law on the point can be summarised to the effect that in the absence of any statutory provision providing for review, entertaining an application for review or under the garb of clarification /modification/ correction is not permissible.”

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13. In view of the aforesaid, we hold that the Award dated

01.10.2003 could not have been reviewed by the Collector, and thus

we allow these appeals and quash the order dated 04.07.2004

passed by  the  Collector  in  Review  Award  No.16/03­04  as  well

as the   order   dated   04.03.2010   passed   by   the   Delhi   High

Court   in   Writ Petition (C) No.2185 of 2008 and Writ Petition (C)

No.381 of 2009.   The appellants shall thus be entitled to the

compensation as awarded in terms of the Award of the Land

Acquisition Collector dated 01.10.2003, and the Supplementary

Award dated 27.10.2004.

No orders as to costs.

………………………………..J.                                                [Arun Mishra]

………………………………..J.                                               [Vineet Saran]

………………………………..J.                                         [S. Ravindra Bhat]

New Delhi Dated: October 17, 2019