1 2026:CGHC:22497 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 1894 of 2021 Jagannath Agrawal S/o Rampratap @ Bhagwan Das (Wrongly Mentioned As Ramprasad In The Mentioned Chart) Aged About 67 Years R/o Katghora Tehsil Katghora District Korba Chhattisgarh. ... Petitioner versus 1 - Union of India Through Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Transport Bhawan 1, Parliament Street New Delhi., District : New Delhi, Delhi. 2 - Project Director National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Project Implementation Unit D - 61, HIG - 1 Abhilasha Parisar Behind New Bus Stand Tifra Bilaspur District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. 3 - State of Chhattisgarh through Secretary, Department of Revenue Mahanadi Bhawan Raipur District Raipur District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh. 4. Collector Korba District Korba Chhattisgarh. 5 - Sub Divisional Officer Cum Competent Authority Land Acquisition Katghora District Korba Chhattisgarh. 6 - Inspector General Registration and Superintendent of Stamp Gst Bhawan Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh ... Respondents For the petitioner : Mr. Rahul Ambast, Advocate For Respondent no.2 : Mr. Dheeraj Wankhede, Advocate For the State/R-3 to R-6 Mr. Rahul Tamaskar, Advocate ALLENA ANNAJEE RAO Digitally signed by ALLENA ANNAJEE RAO Date: 2026.05.14 11:17:16 +0530 2 SB: Hon’ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal Order on Board 13.05.2026 1. The petitioner has filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the award of competent authority (Land-Acquisition)-cum-SDO (Revenue) dated 15.07.2019 passed in Land Acquisition Case No. 30/A-82 Year 2018-2019 by which compensation has been determined for acquiring the land of the petitioner against which, this writ petition has been filed. 2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that compensation was not properly calculated by the Land Acquisition Officer and the action of the Land Acquisition Officer is discriminatory. He submits that the alternative remedy available under section 3G(5) of the National Highways Act, 1956 is not a bar to approach this court by way this writ petition. 3. Per contra, learned counsel for appearing respondent no.2 (NHAI) would submit that the proper remedy available to the petitioner is to file an application for arbitration under section 3G(5) of the National Highways Act. 4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have also perused the material available on record. 5. The language employed in section 3G(5) would show that if compensation determined by the competent authority under sub- sections (1) or (2)] is unacceptable to either party, the amount shall on an application be determined by the arbitrator to be appointed by the Central Government. 3 6. Since the Commissioner of Bilaspur is the competent authority to act as an Arbitrator for determining proper compensation, the petitioner is at liberty to approach the Arbitrator by filing application in accordance with law within 2 weeks from today. On such an application being filed, the arbitrator after hearing parties shall pass the appropriate award within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the application of petition. 7. With the above observation/direction, this writ petition stands disposed off. Sd/- (Sanjay K.Agrawal) Judge Rao