M.B.Sharma, J. - (1.) The above numbered writ petitions are either by the Khatedars or by the Housing Co-operative Society/Societies or members of the Society/Societies who have been allotted the plots for construction of residential houses and as the challenge is primarily to the award/awards made by the Land Acquisition Officer on identical grounds, primarily the ground being that the awards have been made after two years of the extension of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, the Act) to this State, I will proceed to dispose of all these writ petitions by this common order.
(2.) It will be proper to state at the very outset that in few writ petitions the Khatedars of the land have opposed the grant of reliefs and have claimed that their lands have been acquired and the Land Acquisition Officer, or the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) who is the successor of the Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur (UIT) may be asked to pay them the compensation determined under the award/awards.
(3.) The acquisition proceedings commenced under the Urban Improvement Act, 1959 (for short, the UIT Act). A notification under Sub-section(2) of Section 52 of the UIT Act was issued on October 10, 1979 in respect of land in dispute and other lands. In the said notification it was stated that the State Government is of the opinion that the land is required for public purpose i.e. for the improvement and planned development and extension of urban area of Jaipur city and therefore interested persons were called upon to file their objections. Later on a notification under Sub-section(1) of Section 52 of the UIT Act was issued on April 20, 1984. In none of the writ petitions the said two notifications are under challenge and as said earlier the primary challenge is to the award/awards also on the ground that they were made after two years of the extension of the Act to this State i.e. September 24, 1984. So far as legal position under the UIT Act is concerned, it will be seen from a bare reading of sub-section(4) of Section 52 of the UIT Act that when a notice under sub-section(1) of Section 52 is published in the official gazette, the land shall on and from the date of such publication, vest absolutely in the State Government free from all encumbrances.;