MITTER, - (1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by -
(2.) THESE two appeals by certificate from a common judgment of the High court of Allahabad arise out of certain land acquisition proceedings in the District of Rampur. The facts relevant for the disposal of the appeals are as follows. On 15/10/1960 the government of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification purporting to be one under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to the effect that "the land mentioned in the schedule is needed for a public purpose". The notification further showed that "the governor being of opinion that the provisions of Ss. (1) of Section 17 of the said Act are applicable to the land, is further pleased under Ss. (4) of the said section to direct that the provisions of Section 5-A of the Act shall not apply". The schedule to the notification reads as follows : "SCHEDULE JUDGEMENT_125_1_1970Html1.htm Note.-The plan of the land may be inspected in the office of the Collector, Rampur." This was followed by a notification under Section 6(1) of the Act, dated 28/10/1960. This notification shows that the governor was pleased to declare under Section 6 of the Act that he was satisfied that the land mentioned in the schedule was needed for a public purpose and under Section 7 of the Act to direct the Collector of Rampur to take order for the acquisition of the land.
(3.) THE case being one of urgency the governor was further pleased under Ss. (1) of Section 17 of the Act to direct the Collector of Rampur, though no award under Section 11 has been made, on the expiration of the Notice mentioned in Ss. (1) of Section 9, to take possession of the land, being waste or arable land mentioned in the schedule for a public purpose. SCHEDULE JUDGEMENT_125_1_1970Html2.htm 127 THE petitioners-appellants before us filed writ petitions in the High court on 1/12/1960. THE appellant in Appeal No. 1192 of 1967 was the sole petitioner in Writ Petition No. 3274 of 1960 while his father, Ranjit Singh and two others, brothers of the petitioners were the applicants in Writ Petition No. 283 of 1961. THE two writ petitions contained common complaints. THE case of the petitioners was that it was the Maharaja of Dewas with whom the petitioners had certain litigation who was responsible for singling them out for the purported acquisition of their land for the rehabilitation of displaced families of East Pakistan. THE first ground put forward in both the petitions was that the notice under Section 4 of the Act was invalid for non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Act rendering the whole proceedings void. THE points urged in support of the applications were turned down by the learned Single Judge and a Special Appeal therefrom to a division bench met with no better fate. THE learned Judges of the division bench noted that the exact land which was required by the State government was not specified in the notification and that the petitioners had raised further objection that the notification under Section 4 was invalid because it had not been published at convenient places in the locality. THE division bench relied on certain observations of this court in Babu Barkya Thakur v. THE State of Bombay and Others to the effect that the notification under Section 4 was for the purpose of carrying on a preliminary investigation with a view to find out after necessary survey and levels, and if necessary, digging or boring into the sub-soil whether the land was adapted for the purpose for which it was sought to be acquired. According to the division bench there was no substance in the pleas on behalf of the petitioners and their appeals were therefore dismissed. Before us Mr. Gupte wanted to urge several points in support of the appeals. His first contention was that the notification under Section 4 was not in compliance with the Act and therefore it should be struck down and the proceedings held to be illegal. Ss. (1) of Section 4 of the Act provides as follows: "Whenever it appears to the appropriate government that land in any locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purpose, a notification to that effect shall be published in the Official Gazette, and the Collector shall cause public notice of the substance of such notification to be given at convenient places in the said locality." Ss. (2) of the section shows that it is only after compliance with the provisions of Ss. (1) that the officers authorised by government can enter upon the land and carry on the operations mentioned therein. Section 5-A gives persons interested in the land notified under Section 4(1) a right to object to the acquisition. It is only after disposal of the objections that the State government is empowered when satisfied after considering the report made under Section 5-A that any particular land is needed for a public purpose to make a declaration to that effect and such declaration has to be published in the Official Gazette under Ss. (2). In the normal course after lands have been declared to be needed for a public purpose the appropriate government may direct the Collector to take orders for the acquisition of the land. Thereafter the Collector may proceed under Section 8 to mark out the land covered by the declaration. Section 9 enjoins upon the Collector to cause public notice to be given at convenient places after compliance with the provisions of Section 8 that the government intends to take possession of 128 the land and that claims to compensation for interest in such land may be made to him. Section 11 enjoins upon the Collector to hear objections by persons interested after issue of notice under Section 9 to the measurements made under Section 8 and into the value of the land. It is only after compliance with the formalities of this section that the Collector has to make an award as to the true area of the land and the compensation to be allowed for the land as also the apportionment of the compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land. The Collector after making an award may take possession of the land under the provisions of Section 16.;