- (1.) Admit. Heard finally with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. The intra court appeal has been preferred by the appellant Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. as against the interlocutory order passed by the Single Bench on 11.09.2012 staying the acquisition proceedings of the land in question and giving liberty to the State Government to restart the proceedings for the purpose of land acquisition in accordance with law with respect to land being acquired for the purpose of Jaipur Metro Rail Project. The writ petition has been filed by the petitioners Alok Kotahwala & Ors. before the Single Bench praying for the relief of quashment of Notification issued under Sec. 4 on 26.5.2011 and the declaration issued under Sec. 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, hereinafter referred to as "the Act", published in Rajasthan Patrika on 6.7.2012. Prayer has also been made to quash the notice dt. 11.7.2012 issued under Sec. 9 of the Act on the ground that acquisition of the land for the Metro Car Depot as mentioned in the Notification u/S. 4 of the Act is illegal; it amounts to colourable and malafide exercise of the power; there has been gross violation of the provisions of Sec. 5-A of the Act; personal hearing was not given to the petitioners as provided under Sec. 5-A of the Act; the objections submitted were not decided either by the State or by the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO); it is neither feasible nor practicable to have depot on the metro route of the track much before the terminal station. A bare reading of the DPR shows that many operational features of the Metro can only be undertaken at the terminal station such as rak induction, withdrawal to main line, movement from depot to main line without affecting the headway of main line. The land of the petitioners is around 6-7 meters below the ground level, at the same time the metro route is on an elevated platform, therefore, earth filling will have to be done at the site in question; the land of the petitioners is not basically required, there are other alternative lands available belonging to RIICO and IOC, which could have been used for the purpose of construction of Car Depot; such huge chunk of the land is not required, which is being acquired, therefore, the petition has been preferred.
(2.) In the return filed by the respondents i.e. Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and also by the State, it is contended that only suitable land is being acquired; it cannot be said that the land in question is not suitable for the Car Depot; the petitioners cannot make their suggestions; the land in question cannot be termed as commercial plot; land acquisition proceedings have been legally initiated as per the detailed project report. This DPR has been prepared by the experts and they have decided all the places of the Metro Rail building and other matters ancillary thereto namely storm water drains, sewer line, water supply, trenches for electrical and signaling cables, circulating roads, watch towers, Jaipur Metro Rail Line, Stations, escalators, operating rooms, parking and other ancillary constructions at a particular place as per the approved map. It is also submitted that in a Car Depot, various buildings like Inspection Offices, Workshop Offices, Emergency Shed, Auto Coach Wash Plant, Parking, Staff Quarters, Coach Unloading Track, Scrap Yard, Interior Cleaning Shed etc. are required to be constructed, therefore, the planning for construction of the Car Depot has been accordingly done, a copy of the DPR has been filed as Annex. R/3/1 to the return. It cannot be said that there is any malafide and colourable exercise of the power; the Scheme is to serve the public interest at large and the petitioners are seeking to halt the process of Jaipur Metro Rail Project without any basis. Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation is a Corporate body as apparent from the Certificate Annex. R/3/2 to the return.
(3.) It is further contended in the return filed by the Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. that the Jaipur City has seen the development and growth at escalating rate during past two decades and the growth of the City has been continuously recorded in the past three decades. In addition to the development, Jaipur has also been a major tourist attraction for large number of domestic and international tourists. Due to the increase in the development and commercial activities, all the resources in the Jaipur City have seen a great constraint due to increased traffic, population, industries, business centers, colleges, schools etc. Therefore, the decision has been taken to undertake the Metro Rail Project so as to relieve the stress on the public transport system in the Jaipur City; the State Government has also taken steps in this regard; the Govt. of India has also entered into the Memorandum of understanding with the State Government. The development of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project is being carried out in a phased manner namely Phase-I Mansarovar to Badi Chopar (12.067 kms) and Phase-II Sitapura to Ambabari (23.099 kms). The work regarding Phase-1A (Mansarovar to Chandpol) of Phase-I is under construction and the same is being carried out by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on deposit basis. The development and construction of the Jaipur Metro Rail Project is being done strictly in accordance with the expert advice and the technical specifications and the alignment, route, placement of rail line. Stations, Metro Depot Building and services ancillary thereto namely storm water drains, sewer line, water supply, trenches for electrical and signaling cables, circulating roads, watch towers, Jaipur Metro Rail Line, Stations, escalators, operating rooms, parking and other ancillary constructions and ancillary activities cannot be changed, shifted or be allowed to be constructed by any other agency except by the authorized agency of the State Government. The policy decision of the State Government regarding development of Jaipur Metro Rail Project was challenged by way of Filing a public interest litigation being DBCWP No. 17175/2010 by Human Settlement Techno Society; Stay Application has been rejected by a reasoned order by this court and the SLP against the same has been dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court respectively vide order dt. 14.12.2011 and 27.7.2012; copies of the orders have been filed as Annex. R/3/7 and R/3/8 to the return. Other facts and grounds have also been denied. In the course of enquiry under Sec, 5-A of the Act; the petitioners themselves did not turn up for filing rejoinder; hence, the case was closed; after inviting the reply by the respondents, it was not necessary to give further date in view of the absence of the petitioner and non-participation on the date fixed in the case. The State Government has also decided the matter and extent of land required by a reasoned order there is due application of mind made by the LAO. as well as by the State Government. The State Government in its return has taken more or less similar objections. In addition, it is contended that Jaipur has come up as a major tourist destination with domestic as well as foreign tourist traffic increasing every year with the result of growth in hospitality, entertainment, recreation, trade industry; with setting up of 60 engineering colleges, 40 business management institutes, 15 pharmacy, 9 medical & dental colleges and 4 hotel management institutes, Jaipur is fast developing as educational hub of Rajasthan. The existing urban transport system of Jaipur City has already come under stress leading to longer travel time, increased air pollution and rise in number of road accidents, thus, for the purpose of strengthening & augmenting the transport infrastructure, the metro project has been undertaken. The projects are essentially in the public interest and for public at large. Petitioners cannot decide the location of the land needed by Jaipur Metro Rail Project but it is for the experts to consider; the petitioners themselves are guilty of cutting eucalyptus trees and cannot contend that the metro project involves cutting of several trees. When the metro line was extended from Durgapura to Sitapura, the placement of Metro Depot was also accordingly changed and, therefore, the land in question was sought to be acquired for the construction of said Depot. The alignment of metro line from Sitapura to Ambabari as well as the placement of Metro Car Depot has been decided on the basis of technical reports and expert opinions received by DMRC involved in the construction of Metro Project. So as to determine the area of the land required for the purpose of Metro Project, the length of Metro Hoe, number of Stations and similar factors are taken into consideration to decide the total area required for Metro Project; no comparison from different metro routes can be done in this regard; it is purely a technical decision taken by the experts of the field; suggestion made that the RIICO's land may be utilized for the Metro Depot is misconceived, as the land referred is not under the ownership of the State Government; the same is to be used for the purpose of development of a world class Exhibition cum Convention Center in accordance with the policy of the State Government on Public Private Partnership basis, therefore, the said land cannot be utilized for the Metro Depot; award has been passed in favour of the RIICO on 13.2.2012 and possession has been given on 30.7.2012, copies of award & also possession letter have been filed as Annexs. R/1/3 and R/1/4 to the return. The objections, which were made, were beyond the scope & purview of Sec. 5A of Land Acquisition Act. The metro project is an ongoing project in which the decisions, drawings and planning are continuously under way; after issuance of notification under Sec. 4 of the Act, the petitioners appeared before the LAO through counsel and submitted objections; reply was sought by the LAO from JMRC; the counsel for the petitioners was continuously present before the LAO during the course of hearing on 5.7.11, 11.7.11, 28.7.11 and on all other dates of hearing upto 9.3.2012; petitioners were duly represented during the course of hearing on 9.3.12 through their counsel; the next date fixed was 9.4.2012; on the said date, neither the petitioners nor their counsel appeared before the LAO; even subsequently, petitioners did not appear before the LAO, as such, the LAO proceeded with the consideration of objections filed in the course of enquiry under Sec. 5A of the Act and ultimately prepared & sent the final report u/s. 5A of the Act for consideration to the State Government; thus, ample opportunity of hearing was granted to the petitioners; all the objections were considered and considering the public interest, recommended to reject them; the mind was duly applied while preparing the report; even the State Government has clearly spelt out the reasons for acquisition of the land of the petitioners and the extent of the land required for the Depot; the report has been duly considered by the State Government; thereafter the declaration under Sec. 6 of the Act was issued after duly considering the objections and deciding them; there is no illegality in the acquisition proceedings, petitioners cannot be permitted to make suggestions as to alternative sites, as that is the matter for the experts.;