H.N.Seth, J. - (1.) THESE two special appeals are directed against the judgment of a learned single Judge of this Court dated 17th of May 1974 by which he allowed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution filed by respondents Nos. 1 to 7 Ram Kumar and others, and quashed the notification dated 3-8-1963 issued under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. Whereas Special Appeal No. 312 of 1974 is by Sahkari Kraya Vikraya Samiti, the body for whose purposes land had been acquired under the impugned notification, Special Appeal No. 316 of 1974 is by the State Government.
(2.) ON 22nd April 1959 the Collector Fatehpur issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act stating that plot No. 680 situate in village Kuberpur Aima district Fatehpur was needed for a public purpose namely, for construction of a godown for storing foodgrains of Co-operative Marketing Society, Sahkari Kraya Vikraya Samiti Bindki (hereinafter referred to as the Society). In due course, the Collector made a report under Section 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act. As the acquisition was being made for a Co-operative Marketing Society which was a Company as defined in the Land Acquisition Act, the Society executed an agreement, as envisaged by Section 41 of the Act on 13th June, 1963. Before however, as required by Section 42 of the Act, the aforesaid agreement could be published in U. P. Gazette on 29th June 1963, the Central Government framed and enforced the rules entitled as Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules 1963 with effect from 24th of June 1963. Rule 3 of the Rules provides for the constitution of a Land Acquisition Committee for advising the Government on matters relating to and arising out of acquisition of land under Part VII of the Land Acquisition Act. Rule 4 runs thus :- 4. Appropriate Government to be satisfied with regard to certain matters before initiating acquisition proceedings :- (1) Whenever a Company makes an application to the appropriate Government for acquisition of any land, that Government shall direct the Collector to submit a report to it on the following matters, namely :- (i) that the Company has made its best endeavour to find out lands in the locality suitable for the purpose of the acquisition. (ii) that the Company has made all reasonable efforts to get such lands by negotiation with the persons interested therein on payment of reasonable price and such efforts have failed; (iii) that the land proposed to be acquired is suitable for the purpose ; (iv) that the area of land proposed to be acquired is not excessive ; (v) that the company is in a position to utilise the land expeditiously ; and (vi) where the land proposed to be acquired is good agricultural land that no alternative suitable site can be found so as to avoid acquisition of that land. (2) The collector shall, after giving the company a reasonable opportunity, to make any representation in this behalf, hold an enquiry into the matters referred to in sub-rule (1) and while holding such enquiry he shall :- (i) in any case where the land proposed to be acquired is agricultural land, consult the Senior Agricultural Officer of the district whether or not such land is good agricultural land ; (ii) determine, having regard to the provisions of Sections 23 and 24 of the Act, the approximate amount of compensation likely to be payable in respect of the land, which, in the opinion of the Collector, should be acquired for the Company; and (iii) ascertain whether the company offered a reasonable price (not being less than the compensation so determined) to the persons interested in the land proposed to be acquired. Explanation : For the purpose of this rule "good agricultural land" means any land which considering the level of agricultural production and the crop pattern of the area in which it is situated, is of average or above average productivity and includes a garden or grove land. (3) As soon as may be after holding the enquiry under sub-rule (2), the Collector shall submit a report to the appropriate Government and a copy of the same shall be forwarded by that Government to the committee. (4) No declaration shall be made by the appropriate Government under Section 6 of the Act unless - (i) the appropriate Government has consulted the Committee and has considered the report submitted under this rule and the report, and (ii) the agreement under Section 41 of the Act has been executed by the Company. According to this rule, before initiating land acquisition proceedings at the instance of a company, the appropriate Government has to obtain a report with regard to the matters enumerated in sub-rule (1) from the Collector and has to forward the same to the Land Acquisition Committee for opinion. Generally speaking the aforesaid procedure is to be followed so as to enable the appropriate Government to ensure that the Company is in a position to utilize the acquired land expeditiously and that only suitable land to the minimum extent is acquired for the use of the Company, on payment of reasonable price therefor. The sub-rule further contemplates that for the aforesaid purpose good agricultural land should be acquired only when it becomes absolutely necessary to do so. Sub-rule (4) clearly prohibits the State Government from issuing a declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act unless it has consulted the Land Acquisition Committee, has considered the reports under Section 5-A of the Act, if any, and that submitted to it by the Collector. In this case, the State Government issued the notification under Section 6 of the Act on 3rd August 1963 without following the procedure laid down in rule 4 of the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules and declared that the land in question was needed for a public purpose.
(3.) MAIN question that arises for consideration in this appeal is whether, in the circumstances, it was open to the State Government to issue a notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act without following the procedure prescribed in Rule 4 of the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules 1963.;