1. This appeal arises out of the following facts:-- Govt. of Azad Jammu and Kashmir decided to acquire a landed property comprising Survey Numbers 1026 measuring 2 marlas, 1020 measuring 3 marlas, 1023 measuring 1 malra, 1024 measuring 3 marlas, 1020 measuring 17 marlas, 874 measuring 3 marlas, 875 measuring 6 marlas, 813 measuring 8 marlas, 788 measuring 4 marlas, 786 measuring 6 marlas, 687 measuring 1 kanal, 789 measuring 5 marlas, 812 measuring 12 marlas, 790 measuring 2 marlas, 826 measuring 4 marlas, 820 measuring 11 marlas, 821 measuring 8 marlas, 823 measuring 5 marlas, 824 measuring 2 marlas, 333 measuring 6 marlas, 345 measuring 3 marlas, 451 measuring 16 marlas, 450 measuring 5 marlas, 454 measuring 12 marlas, 459 measuring 1 marla, 455 measuring 2 marlas, 460 measuring 2 marlas total measuring 11 kanals 5 marlas situated at village Kondal Shahi Tehsil Athmuqam District Muzaffarabad in order to construct a road from Kondal Shahi to Gorian. Per decision of the Govt., Collector Land Acquisition after due process of law announced Award No, 3 dated 16.1.1995. The appellants herein being claimants of the land acquired received the compensation however, under protest. They submitted an objection application and requested the Collector to refer the matter to the reference Judge under Section 18 of Land Acquisition Act. The collector concerned sought a report from his office wherein it was disclosed that reference application was time-barred however, despite this report he referred the matter to reference Judge for its decision. The learned reference Judge, after hearing the learned Counsel for the parties, declared the reference application as time-barred, hence this appeal.
2. I have heard the learned Counsel for the parties and gone through the record. It is borne out by the record that the reference Court has not decided the case on its merits but disallowed the reference application on the ground of limitation only. I do not agree with the observation of learned reference Judge for the following reasons:-- Section 18 of Land Acquisition Act clearly lays down that a person who is interested in the award and has not accepted it can by application in writing request the Collector to refer the matter to reference Court for determination of his objections in respect of measurement of the land, amount of compensation, and the apportionment of this compensation. The powers of a reference Court therefore, are very much limited to the above mentioned 3 points. A reference Court cannot determine the question of limitation after reference is made to it by Collector under Section 18 of Land Acquisition Act. As regards the question of limitation a proviso has been provided to Section 18 which is very clear on this point i,e, period of limitation. Its clause (a) lays down that such application must be made by a person if he was present before the Collector when this award was made (within 6 weeks from the date of Collector's award). Clause (b) refers to cases in which such persons are absent at the time of making of that award and in that case they can file application under Section 18 within 6 weeks of the receipt of the notice from the Collector under Section 12(2) or within 6 months form the date of the Collector's award whichever period shall first expire. This proviso makes the ambiguity quite clear about the powers of the Court and the Collector regarding the determination of limitation. According to it, it is the Collector who has to determine this question. Even if a time-barred application is referred to the Court the objection regarding limitation cannot be raised on behalf of the Govt. It is the Collector who has jurisdiction to decide the question whether an application under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act is time-barred or not. He can refuse to make a reference if he holds that such an application has been made beyond the prescribed time limit. After having regard to Sections 20 and 21 of the Land Acquisition Act, it becomes clear that the inquiry by Court is restricted to a consideration of the objection raised by the interested parties in accordance with sub-section (1) of Section 18 of this Act. It does not contemplate the decision on the question of limitation because that apparently is a matter for the Collector to decide. The question of limitation cannot be agitated before the Court once the Collector has made the reference. Reference may be had to 1992 CLC 1775, PLD 1962 Lahore 292, PLD 1960 Karachi 826 and PLD 1965 (West Pakistan) Karachi 413. Herein this case, as stated earlier that though the office of the Collector disclosed the reference application as time-barred yet the Collector referred the matter to the Court for its decision on merits. He was empowered to dismiss the reference application but when he has referred the matter to the reference Judge it means that he did not agree with the office report and referred the matter to the reference Judge. The reference Judge therefore, under law, was not competent to go into the question of limitation once again which was only in the dominion and powers of Collector alone. The reference Judge while dealing with a reference application was required to confine himself to the measurement of the land, compensation and apportionment of the compensation if any, but he has found to have travelled beyond his scope of jurisdiction under Section 18 of Land Acquisition Act. Before parting with this case, I would like to observe that in Azad Jammu & Kashmir all the Collector Land Acquisition are found very negligent while dealing with objection application in case of an award.
3. They are required to draw a statement in view of Section 19 of Land Acquisition Act which is to be referred to the Court for its decision. What they do is that they simply refer to the Court what has been placed before them by a person interested in an award. They do not care to look into the objection application neither they bather to draw a statement under Section 19 of the land Acquisition Act.
4. The result therefore, is that the judgment and decree impugned before this Court is set-aside by allowing this appeal and the case is remanded to the reference Judge for decision on merits.