M.L.Chaturvedi, J. - (1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. Xt arises in tire following circumstances :
(2.) The petitioners are owners of certain plots of land situate in villages Bi.sokhar and Eegamabad, pcrgana Jalabad, district Mcerut. The Modi Spinning and Weaving Mills Co, Limited is situated near the petitioner's plots. Under a scheme, which is subsidised by the Government of India, there was a proposal to construct certain buildings for the residence of the labourers employed in the mills and also for other amenities for the staff and workers. The company proposed acquisition of five bighas and odd of land in village Begamabad and a little more than 12 bighas in village Bisokhar. The Government made some inquiries and it appears from paragraph 6 of the counter-affidavit that the company has actually deposited the estimated costs of those constructions with the, Government in compliance with a letter sent by the Land Acquisition Officer to it on the 10th of February, 1955. The Land Acquisition Officer then recommended to the Government that a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act may be issued and a notification was duly published in the gazette dated 12th September, 1955. The notification shows that the land was to be acquired for constructions in connection with the subsidised scheme. There was some mistake in the notification in describing the land to be acquired and the mistake was corrected by subsequent notifications dated 12th October and 24th November, 1955, which were also duly published in the gazette. The petitioners filed objections under Section 5 A of the Land Acquisition Act and the Land Acquisition Officer, after hearing the parties, submitted his report on the 15th of May, 1956, recommending the acquisition of the land. After the receipt of the report, the Government issued a notification under Sections 6 and 17 of the Land Acquisition Act which was published in the U. P gazettes dated 21st June and 29th June, 1956. The present petition was then filed on 22nd August 1956, praying for the quashing of the notification issued under Sections 6 and 17 of the Land Acquisition Act.
(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioners has urged only pne point in support of the petition. His case is that the land in this case is being acquired for a company, namely, the Modi Spinning and Weaving Mills Company Limited and that being the position, the provisions of Part VII of the Land Acquisition Act arc attracted to the case and, as no agreement had yet been entered into between the company and the Government as required by Sections 39 and 41 of the Land Acquisition Act, no notification under Section 6 or 17 of the Act could legally be issued, I think that there is force in this contention. The provisions of Section 39 of the Land Acquisition Act are important and they may be quoted in full. They are- ''39. The provisions of Sections 6 to 37 (both inclusive) shall not be put in force in order to acquire land for any Company, unless with the previous consent of the appropriate Government, nor unless the Company shall have executed the agreement hereinafter mentioned." Section 41 says that if the appropriate Government is satisfied that the purpose of the proposed acquisition is to obtain land for the erection of dwelling houses for workmen employed by the company or for the provision of amenities directly connected therewith and that the work is likely to prove useful to the public, it shall require the company to enter into an agreement with the appropriate Government providing for the matters enumerated in the section. These matters include the payment to the Government of the costs of the acquisition, the transfer of the land to the company, the terms on which the land shall be held by the company and, where the acquisition is for the purpose of erecting dwelling houses or the provisions of amenities connected therewith, the time within which, the conditions on which and the manner in which the dwelling houses or amenities shall be erected or provided. Every such agreement is to be published in the official gazette under Section 42 of the Act, Section 43 then makes an exception in certain cases, namely, where the land is being acquired for any railway or for a company for the purpose tor which under any agreement with the company the Secretary of State for India in Council, the Secretary of State or the Central or the State Government was bound to provide land.;