- (1.) The Central Government launched a project which is commonly known as 'Golden Quadrilateral Project' (hereinafter called as the 'said project') by which the four major cosmopolitan cities of the country i.e. Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai amongst others are wanted to be joined by the highly sophisticated wide roads of international level for faster movement of the transport from one place to another. This has been visualised on the basis of the submissions made by the different parties as well as by taking judicial notice in respect of various aspects of the matter. It is an admitted position that no one amongst the contesting parties is against the basic requirement of construction of such sophisticated roads but against the decision making process of constructing bypass in two places i.e.'Budbud and'Shaktigarh' in the'Panagarh to Palsit' stretch of the existing Grand Trunk Road (hereinafter called as G.T.Road) being National Highway 2 under the schedule of the National Highways Act, 1956.
(2.) According to two sets of petitioners, either of this writ petition or of the writ petition being W.P. No. 11778 (W) of 2002, directed to be heard analogously, when an existing National Highway from Delhi to Kolkata available such road is to be rebuilt or reconstructed for the purpose of fulfilment of the requirement of the Project. It is an admitted position that the width of the G.T. Road is 150 feet but encroachers have encroached half of the width. The National Highway Authority took a decision that bypass is to be built up in the aforesaid two strips of the stretch of the road to expedite the project and to avoid the litigations with the encroachers. As a result whereof the Central Government acquired various fertile cultivable lands and handed over to the National Highway Authority for making bypass. The petitioners of both the writ petitions are either farmers or owners of the homestead lands etc., being aggrieved, invoked the writ jurisdiction of the Court challenging the respective orders and/or notifications of the Union of India as well as National Highways Authority.
(3.) So far as the present writ petition is concerned, the petitioners have challenged a notification under Section 3A (1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 dated 13th December, 2002 which has been issued by the Central Government upon being satisfied that for the public purpose of four laning (i.e. building), the lands, the brief description of which has been given in the Schedule therein, are required for Shaktigarh Bypass of National Highways No. 2 in the stretch from 517.000 k.m. to 581.457 k.m. (Panagarh to Palsit section) in the State of West Bengal and thereby declared its intention to acquire such lands for the aforesaid purpose. In the said notification 21 days time was prescribed from the date of publication of notification to raise objection on the use of the land for the aforesaid purpose under sub-section (1) of Section 3C of the Act. The objectors were given opportunity therein to be heard either in person or by a legal practitioner and after hearing all the objections and making further inquiry, if any, as the competent authority thinks necessary, by order, either allow or disallow the objections. It was also notified therein that any order made by the Competent Authority under sub-section (2) of the Section 3C of the said Act shall be final. This writ petition has been made on 22nd January, 2003 challenging the validity of such notification in view of the existing judgment delivered by Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly on 6th February, 2002 reported in 2002 (2) CHN 371 (Sk. Liakat All & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. ). In the said judgment the Court, upon going through various maps prepared by the Settlement Officer under the authority of Government of India in 1940-47 vide Notification No. 5074 dated 6th April, 1940 under Section 3 of the Bengal Survey Act and also Notification No. 5075 dated 6th May, 1940 under Section 101 (2) (d) of Bengal Tenancy Act came to a conclusion that the stretch of original G.T. Road is not less than 150 feet. It was further held that this Highway being National, Highway under Section 4 of the Act would be included hereunder : "(i) all lands appurtenant thereto, whether demarcated or not; (ii) all bridges, culverts, tunnels, causeways, carriageways and other structures, constructed on or across such highways ; and . (iii) all fences, tress, posts, and boundary, furlong and mile stones of such highways or any land appurtenant to such highways.";