P L D 1960 (W (PLP)

KAIKAUS, J.‑Land measuring 96 acres 6 kanals and 2 marlas situate in Husainabad near Bahawalnagar belonging to Mian Nizam‑ud‑Din Haider and the other petitioners in this petition was taken possession of by the Bahawalpur Government on the 14th of October 1954 for the purpose of its acquisition. A notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was published on the 19th of March 1955 and notifications under section 5 and sections 6 and 7 followed on the 16th of April 1957 and 20th of May 1957, respectively. Subsequently, there was a notification under section 9 and an award was made on the 24th of April 1958 which was communicated to the petitioners on the 23rd of May 1958. The amount awarded was Rs. 3,27,897‑15‑

0. In spite of the fact that the petitioners had been found by the Collector to be entitled to take this amount, no payment was made to them with the result that on the 28th of August 1958 the present writ petition was filed for a writ directing the Government of West Pakistan to pay the amount of the award as well as interest at six per cent. per annum from the date of taking possession till payment. During the pendency of this petition, i.e., on the 12th of January 1959, the amount awarded by the Collector was paid but without any interest. The dispute in the present writ petition is confined to the interest claimed by the petitioners. They contend that in accordance with section 34 of the Land Acquisition Act, they are entitled to six per cent. interest from the 14th of October 1954 till the date of payment.

2. On behalf of the respondent two contentions have been raised. The first is that the Land Acquisition Act provides a machinery for the assessment of interest by the Collector and its realisation by the person entitled, and therefore the appropriate remedy of the petitioners is by further proceedings under that Act. The second is that the word "possession" in section 34 refers to possession which is taken in accordance with section 16 or 17 of the Act and not to possession which has been taken before even a notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was published.

3. After a consideration of the relevant provisions there does not seem to be any doubt that the first contention is wholly without force. The machinery provided by the Land Acquisition Act is not for the ascertainment of interest by the Collector or for its inclusion in the award. The enquiry to be made by the Collector is provided for in section 11 which runs: "On the day so fixed, or on any other day to which the enquiry has been adjourned, the Collector shall proceed to enquire into the objections (if any) which any person interested has stated pursuant to a notice given under section 9 to the measurements made under section 8, and into the value of the land at the date of the publication of the notification under section 4, subsection (1) and into the respective interests of the persons claiming the compensation and shall make an award under his hand of‑ (i) the true area of the land ; (ii) the compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land ; and (iii) the apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested to the land, whom, or of whose claims, he has information, whether or not they have respectively appeared before him." It will be observed that the Collector only determines the area of the land, the compensation which is to be allowed "for the land" and for the apportionment of such compensation. The section A does not say that he has to assess the amount of interest to be awarded. It was contended by learned counsel for the respondent that as the word used is "compensation", this means that the total amount which is to be paid to the person whose land is the subject‑matter of the land acquisition proceedings is to be assessed by the Collector. This is not correct, for compensation is confined to that which is payable "for the land". Had it ‑been the intention of the law that the amount of interest is also to be determined by the Collector, this would have found a clear mention in section

11. But the matter is absolutely concluded by the wording of section 34 which runs: "When the amount of such compensation is not paid or deposited on or before taking possession of the land, the Collector shall pay the amount awarded with interest thereon at the rate of six per centum per annum from the time of so taking possession until it shall have been so paid or deposited." Interest is to be paid on the amount "awarded" by the Collector. Therefore, obviously interest is not to be included in the amount awarded.

4. One argument put forward by learned counsel for the respondent was that if interest is not to be assessed by the Collector then there is no machinery at all provided for its assessment and realisation. Learned counsel, however had to concede that interest for the period between the making of the award and the payment of the amount awarded is not to be determined by the Collector, and if there be no machinery for assessment of interest during this period. It should not seem very strange that there is nor machinery also for the assessment of interest for the period between the taking of possession and the making of award. Also it is to be observed that in this Act there is no procedure provided at all for the realisation of the amount awarded by the Collector. If the Collector failed to pay, the party will have to file a suit. Similar is the case with interest. The Act does not provide any machinery for its assessment or realization. It only gives a direction that interest is to be paid and it is not paid, the party concerned would have to file a suit if the High Court did not give a direction in the exercise of writ jurisdiction.

5. The second contention has no greater force. It is true that according to section 16 possession is ordinarily to be taken when an award has been made and in accordance with section 17 in a case of urgency possession can be taken earlier on the expiry of fifteen days from the period of notice mentioned in section

9. But this does not mean that if possession has been taken earlier, interest is not to be awarded from the date on which such possession is taken. Section 34 refers to the date of possession without any qualification. Of course, it means possession taken in proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, but that is all that is needed. In the present case possession had been taken even before a notification was issued under section 4, but it had been taken for the purpose of the acquisition of this land and will afford a starting point for the calculation of interest. The principle of section 34 is that the owner was entitled to payment of the price of the land on the date on which possession was taken because he was henceforward deprived of further use of the property, and if he was not paid the amount to which he was entitled on the date when possession was taken he should be paid interest on that amount.

6. This writ petition is accepted. We issue a mandamus to the respondent to pay the petitioners interest on the amount awarded at six per cent. per annum from 14th October 1954 to the date when payment is made. The petitioners shall have their costs from the respondent. K. B. A. Petition accepted.