the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the “1894 Act” for the sake of brevity). The said case was numbered as Land Acquisition Case No.07/1995-1996. Record shows that total area of 5 Bighas 2 Kathas 5 Lechas were acquired for the said public purpose, which included the land belonging to the father of the appellant/original petitioner. The land acquisition proceeding so initiated under the provisions of the 1894 Act culminated into an award passed under the provisions of the 1894 Act, wherein the land belonging to the predecessor of the appellant was valued at Rs.62,450.18. The award came to be approved in accordance with law on 12.01.2005 and the grandfather of the appellant, i.e. the predecessor in title, was paid an amount of Rs.62,450.18 on 19.12.2008. The record clearly indicates that the possession of the land under acquisition was taken over by the acquiring authority and the same was handed over to Dhubri District Regulated Market Committee. Thus, the land in question vested in the said authority free from all encumbrances, as provided under Section 16 of the 1894 Act.
