Indu Malhotra, J. - (1.) Leave granted. The present Civil Appeals have been filed to challenge the Final Judgment and Order dated 25.07.2018 passed by the Gujarat High Court, whereby the Special Civil Application Nos. 19409 of 2015, 12711 of 2016, 14000 of 2016, and 14001 of 2016 have been dismissed.
(2.) Since a common issue arises in all 4 Civil Appeals, they are being disposed of by the present common Judgment and Order.
(3.) The factual matrix in which the present Civil Appeals have been filed is as under : 3.1. On 08.02.2011, a Notification was issued under Section 20A of the Railways Act, 1989 [hereinafter referred to as "the said Act"] by the Ministry of Railways notifying its intention to acquire the lands specified in 18 Villages, situated in District Surat, Gujarat for the public purpose of construction of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.The total land under acquisition was a stretch of 131 kms. The land owned by the Appellants, comprising of approximately 6 kms, was included under the Notification.3.2. The Appellants along with other land-owners filed written Objections between 06.04.2011 and 07.04.2011 under Section 20D(1) of the Act before the Competent Authority/ Special Land Acquisition Officer, Surat [hereinafter referred to as "the Competent Authority"], Surat to challenge the proposed acquisition.3.3. The Competent Authority vide letter dated 15.07.2011, informed the land-owners that the acquisition was for a necessary public purpose i.e. the development of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. It was stated that compensation would be paid to all affected landowners in accordance with Sections 20F and 20G of the Railways Act, 1989.The land-owners were asked to remain present with necessary proofs at the time of personal hearing, the date of which would be intimated to them.3.4. The Competent Authority vide letter dated 19.07.2011, directed the land-owners to appear for a personal hearing on the Objections on 30.07.2011.3.5. The land-owners appeared before the Competent Authority on 30.07.2011 for personal hearing, and submitted further written Objections on 31.07.2011.3.6. The Competent Authority submitted its Report to the Central Government under Section 20E(1) of the Act on 03.01.2012.On 06.02.2012, the Ministry of Railways issued a Notification under Section 20E(1) of the Railways Act, 1989 stating that 59 Objections had been received in respect of the proposed acquisition, which had been considered and disallowed by the Competent Authority.3.7. On 06.02.2013 and 07.02.2013, Awards were passed by the Competent Authority under Section 20F of the Railways Act, 1989.3.8. On 13.08.2013, Shri Ghanshyamsinh Gambhirsinh Vashi, a land-owner, filed an RTI Application before the Competent Authority seeking a certified copy of the Order passed on the Objections filed by the landowners.3.9. The Competent Authority replied to the said RTI Application on 05.09.2013, and stated that the reply to the Objections raised by the land-owners had already been communicated vide letter dated 15.07.2011.3.10. The Appellants herein challenged the acquisition proceedings by filing Special Civil Application Nos. 19409 of 2015, 12711 of 2016, 14000 of 2016, and 14001 of 2016 before the Gujarat High Court.The principal ground of challenge raised by the Appellants was that no Order had been passed on the Objections in accordance with Section 20D(2) of the said Act.The Appellants prayed for quashing and setting aside the Notification issued under Section 20A on 08.02.2011, and the Declaration issued under Section 20E on 06.02.2012.3.11. During the pendency of the proceedings, the High Court vide Interim Order dated 12.07.2018, directed the Respondents to file an Affidavit giving specific details pertaining to the disposal of the Objections after personal hearing was granted on 30.07.2011.3.12. The Chief Project Manager, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited filed Affidavit dated 17.07.2018 on behalf of the Respondents before the High Court, wherein it was stated that :"4. I state that the clarification/reply given vide letter dated 15/7/2011 does not indicate the decision/order/predetermination of the Competent Authority. The Competent Authority has merely clarified the purpose of acquisition and provision of Railway Amendment Act 2008 to be considered while awarding compensation. On the contrary, in the said letter dated 15/7/2011, the Competent Authority has clearly informed the objector to remain present with all the relevant documents on a date which was to be intimated later....8. I state that the Competent Authority, after hearing all the objectors of land under acquisition, has passed two orders dated 28//11/2011 and 3/1/2012 disallowing all the objections raised by the objectors in public interest. Annexed hereto and marked as Annexure VI Colly. Are the copies of the orders dated 28/11/2011 as well as 3/1/2012."3.13. The High Court vide Final Judgment and Order dated 25.07.2018 dismissed the Special Civil Applications filed by the Appellants.The Court took the view that in matters involving highly technical and scientific fields, courts would be extremely slow in overruling the decision taken by the Government after due deliberation. Unless it was pointed out that relevant considerations were not properly weighed, or that the decision was blatantly mala fide, courts would not attempt to substitute their understanding of such complex subjects for that of the Government. The Appellants failed to produce any material to support their objection that the proposed railway line was not advisable.It was, however, held that Section 20D of the Act confers a valuable right on a person interested in the land under acquisition, to raise objections, and be heard on such objections. The objections raised by a person interested have to be considered and disposed of, after a hearing is given by the competent authority. If the objections received by persons interested have not been disallowed by the competent authority, it would not be open for the Central Government to proceed to issue the Declaration under Section 20E(1) of the Act.The High Court recorded its concern about the manner in which the entire matter was dealt with by the Respondents. The land-owners were informed that their objections were not valid even prior to the personal hearing took place.After the personal hearing took place on 30.07.2011, the Competent Authority disposed of the objections on the office file, but never conveyed the decision to the objectors. The Competent Authority had not fulfilled the important stage of disposal of the objections prior to the Declaration being issued under Section 20E.It was further observed that the Competent Authority gave a completely wrong reply to the RTI Application filed by the land-owners. This was an act of utter carelessness which had serious ramifications.The Competent Authority vide Report dated 03.01.2012, informed the Chief Project Manager, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited that all the Objections raised by the Appellants were heard at length, and orally answered.The Special Civil Applications were dismissed by the High Court, and the Competent Authority was directed to pay Costs of Rs. 50,000/- in each of the Special Civil Applications.3.14. Aggrieved by the aforesaid Judgment, the Appellant - Land-owners filed the present Civil Appeals.;