SHETHNA, J. - (1.) ALL these four petitions are disposed of by this common order as identical question is involved in all these petitions.
(2.) THE petitioners are Khatedar of the land in question for which the notification u/sec. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was issued on 22. 6. 88. It is the case of the petitioners that they were heard by one Officer and they were under the impression that the acquisition proceedings will be dropped. In view of the fact that the land in question was not useful for residential Colony. However, the Government issued a notification on 3. 10. 91 u/sec. 17 (4) of the Act and the enquiry u/sec. 5a of the Act has been dispensed with. Accordingly, notification u/s. 6 was issued and the Special Officer was directed to proceed with the acquisition u/sec. 6 (4) (1) of the Act. Earlier the petitioners have filed writ petitions before this Court and during the pendency of the writ petitions they moved an application u/sec. 48 of the Act to the respondents on 9. 8. 94. The Court of Special Officer asked the Resident Engineer, Rajasthan Housing Board, Udaipur to verify the fact as to whether the land in question is necessry to be acquired for implementation of the scheme for constructing the houses by the Housing Board. Their writ petitions were decided by this Court by the learned Single Judge by a common judgment dated 10. 4. 1998. It is clearly mentioned in the order that all the writ petitions were without any substance, therefore, they were dismissed. However, while dismissing the writ petitions the learned Single Judge observed that: " These writ petitions are being held to be of no substance but it is seen that the petitioners want to make an application for de-acquisition of the land u/sec. 48 of the Act. It is thought fit in the interest of justice that if any application is made by the petitioners before the State Government to invoke its power u/sec. 48 of the Act then the same may be decided by the State authorities within a period of two months. The petitioners will not delay the filing of the applications beyond two weeks from today and would not seek any adjournment or adopt any dilatory tactics in impending the decision of such application and would extend all co-operation to the State for getting this application u/sec. 48 of the Act decided. " The above writ petitions were pending before this Court since 1990-91 and that the petitioners remained in possession of the land under the interim orders of the Court, therefore, in the interest of justice, the interim relief granted earlier was extended by this Court for a period of 2 months during which the State Govt. was directed to decide the applications moved by the petitioners u/sec. 48 of the Act.
(3.) THE applications of the petitioners made u/sec. 48 of the Act were rejected by separate orders passed by the State Government on 9. 6. 98. Being aggrieved by the impugned order dated 9. 6. 98 passed by the State Government rejecting their applications made u/sec. 48 of the Act, the petitioners have filed the above petitions before this Court. It was submitted by learned counsel Shri Govind Mathur for the petitioners that the land of the petitioners was just adjacent to the land of those persons against whom the acquisition proceedings of their land were dropped by the State Government itself, therefore, there was no justifiable reason for the State Government to reject their applications by the impugned order dated 9. 6. 98. He submitted that the State Government cannot adopt different scales or yardsticks for acquisition of the land of the petitioners by dropping the acquisition proceedings against others who-se land was adjacent to the land of the petitioners. Before considering this argument of learned counsel Shri Mathur it must be stated that when the earlier petitions filed by the petitioners were dismissed by the learned Single Judge of this Court on the ground that they were without any substance, then it was not open to them to file fresh petitions unless and until liberty was reserved to the petitioners to challenge the subsequent orders passed by the State Government on their application u/sec. 48 of the Act. ;