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TMI Blog1996 (11) TMI 464X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n covered the land belonging to the transfer petitioners, appellants and some other persons. The transfer petitioners like others had also filed writ petitions in the High Court of Delhi being writ petitions No. 2179, 2178, 2140, 2139, 2197, 2083, 2138, 2144, 2199/1983 and civil writ petitions No. 810- 812/1984 challening the acquisition of their respective lands on various grounds. These writ petitions were pending in the High Court. However, during the course of hearing of writ petition (C) No. 4677/1985 pending before this Court it was felt necessary to transfer all the aforesaid writ petitions from Delhi High Court to this Court.Consequently on the basis of Interlocutory Applications No. 20 and 21 of 1995 in W.P. (C) No. 4677/1985 this court by order dated December 14, 1994 directed that all the aforementioned writ petitions be transferred to this court. This is how those writ petitions stand transferred to this court which have been registered as transfer cases Nos. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 of 1995. As said earlier besides the aforementioned transfer cases large number of writ petitions filled by various persons were already pending before the High Court o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... etween the period from 13.11.1959 and 21.11965 whereby large chunks of land were sought to be acquired. after issuance of notices under Section 9 and 10 of the Act a spate of writ petitions were filed challenging the acquisition proceedings on various grounds whose lands were sought to be acquired, most of which were dismissed including the Letters Patent Appeal by the High Court by an earlier judgment dated April 29,1972 vide I.L.R. (1971) 3. The said judgment was challenged in appeal before this Court which was also dismissed by judgment dated August 23, 1974 by a Constitution Bench of this Court which is reported in 1975 (1) SCR 8O2 = AIR 1974 SC 2077 Aflatoon Ors. Vs. Ltd. Governor of Delhi, in which amongst others the contentions before this Court were raised that (1) the public purpose specified in the notification under Section 4 of the Act was vague as neither master plan nor zonal plan was in existence on the date of notification; (2) that there was inordinate delay in finalising the acquisition proceedings by reason of which the land owners were deprived of the benefits of the appreciation of price between the date of notification under Section 4 and the date of taki ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he land owners, therefore, could not complain about the payment of compensation computing with reference to the market value of the land as on the date of notification under section 5 and Section 23 of the Act could not be held to be bad, as such a challenge is precluded in view of Article 31(5) of the Constitution. This Court further held that it is true that there could be no planned development of Delhi except in accordance with the provisions of Delhi Development Act after that Act came into force but there was no inhibition in the acquisition of land for planned development of Delhi under the Act before the master plan was ready. 4. Before the High Court a number of controversies and objections were raised and the acquisition proceedings were sought to be challenged on various grounds including challenge to the validity of the declarations made from time to time under Section 6 of the Act using the notification issued under Section 4 of the Act as the reservoir and that more than one declarations under Section 6 of the Act were issued which according to the transfer petitioners and the appellants were not permissible. A plea was raised that after the lapse of a long period ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the land owners in the transfer cases. 5. The main attack by learned counsel appearing for all the appellants and those representing the transfer petitioners was advanced for quashing the acquisition proceedings on the ground of delay in completing the acquisition proceedings. M/s. Soli Sorabjee, Venugopal, P.N. Lekhi, Kapil Sibal, Rajiv Dhavan, H.N. Salve, G.L. Sanghi learned senior counsel and host of other advocates appearing for the appellants made a concerted effort to show that there was unreasonable delay of about 15 to 20 years in completing the acquisition proceedings by the respondents by reason of which the land owners were deprived of the reasonable and real price of their properties who have been offered only a pittance of compensation after a long lapse of time while the prices have gone up many times high in between the period from the date of notification under Section 4 to the date of making the award and taking possession of the properties. It was submitted that the main purpose in issuing the notifications under Section 4 of the Act during the period from 1959 - 1965 was to freeze the price of the land causing great loss to the land owners. The decision render ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Land Acquisition Act as they stand today have to be interpreted and applied in accordance with existing position of law and in its true sense of perspective in respect of which this Court has made authorotative pronouncements on the points raised and contended by the learned counsel. In the present case as stated earlier after issuance of the notifications and notices under Section 9 and 10 of the Act not only large number of objections were filed by the land owners whose land was sought to be acquired but a number of writ petitions were filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the validity of the notification under Section 4 as well as the declaration under Section 6 in which interim orders of stay were passed by the High Court which resulted in the considerable delay. Thus the authorities alone were not responsible for the delay but the land owners were equally responsible for the same .In such circumstances and on consideration of several decisions of this Court including those rendered in the case of Bihar State Housing Board Vs. Ram Behari Mahato AIR 1988 SC 2134; and Ujjain Vikas Pradhikaran Vs. Raj Kumar Johri 1992 (1) SCC 329 this Court in the case of Ram Chand Vs. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cation of the principles laid down in Ram Chand's case merely on the ground that possession is not taken from some of the land owners. In this connection the fact could not be lost sight of that the land owners have enjoyed possession all these years and have taken the benefit of the usfruct and other advantages out of the said land and, therefore, they stand even in an advantageous position than those land owners from whom the possession was taken earlier. 7. It was then contended that it was not open to the Government to issue more than one declaration under Section 6 of the Act with regard to the land comprised within one notification under Section 4 of the Act. In other words it was submitted that the notification under Section 4 cannot be treated as a reservior from which land could be taken from time to time and declaration one after the other may be made under Section 6 of the Act which is not permissible under the Act and, therefore, the acquisition proceedings were liable to be, quashed on this ground. In this connection we feel it necessary to mention some of the facts and circumstances which are relevant to the submissions made above and to see whether the submiss ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court in the case of Aflatoon (supra). Some of the learned counsel appearing for the appellants contended that the aforementioned Amending Act was promulgated with a view to over reach the decision of this Court rendered in the case of Vishnu Prasad Sharma but such a submission could not be accepted in view of the decision of this Court referred to above upholding the validity of the said Amending Act. 8. Dr. Siddhu learned counsel appearing for the appellants in the civil appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 2669/1978 as well as some other counsel contended that the land in village Masodpur sought to be acquired is in personal cultivation of the land owner which is a small area and by virtue of the second proviso of Article 31-A of the Constitution it will not be lawful for the State to acquire any portion of such land as is within the ceiling limit applicable to the land owner under any law for the time being in force. It was also asserted that the market price of the land prevailing on the date of taking over the possession of the land should be ascertained and paid to the land owner and not the price prevailing on the date of notification under Section 4 of the Act. Reliance w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by the learned counsel could not be accepted. Here a reference may also be made to the decision in the case of P.V. Mudaliar Vs. Deputy Collector 1965 in which it has been observed as under: Under Article 31(2) and (2A) of the Constitution a State is prohibited from making a law for acquiring land unless it is for a public purpose and unless it fixes the amount of compensation of specifies the principles for determining the amount of compensation. But Article 31-A lifts the ban to enable the State to implement the pressing agrarian reforms. The said object of the Constitution is implicit in Article 31-A. If the argument of the respondents be accepted, it would enable the State to acquire the lands of citizens without reference to any agrarian reform in derogation of their fundamental rights without payment of compensation and thus deprive Article 31(2) practically of its content. If the intention of the parliament was to make Article 31(2) a dead letter it would have clearly expressed its intention. This Court cannot by interpretation enlarge the scope of Article 31-A. On the other hand the Article , as pointed out by us earlier, by necessary implication, is confined only to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... decisions that Article 31A has got nothing to do with acquisition of land for building of a capital of a State. In the present case before us also the land is not said to be acquired for purposes of any agrarian reforms and development but for the planned development of Delhi and that being so the argument advanced by the learned counsel in this behalf that the land belonging to a small agriculturist within celling limit cannot be acquired or the value of the land of the agriculturists sought to be acquired should be determined on the price/value prevailing on the date of award or taking of possession and not on the value prevailing on the date of notification under Section 4(1) cannot be accepted. In the case of Ram Chand (supra) also in para 4 of the report this Court while dealing with Article 31-A took the view that the Constitution ensures under the second proviso to Article 31- A that where any law makes provision for the acquisition by the State, of land held by a person, under his personal cultivation, within the ceiling limit, it shall not be lawful for the state to acquire any portion of such land unless the law relating to the acquisition of such land, building or struc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n or land can be made only in accordance with master plan and zonal plans to be framed under the Delhi Development Act. It was contended that on the issuance of the notification under Section 4 of the Act for acquisition of the land for planned development of Delhi it has to be inferred that the land which was notified under Section 4 of the Act for planned development of Delhi is the land designated for compulsory acquisition within the meaning of Sub-Section (1) of Section 55 of the Delhi Act but as the land sought to be acquired was not so acquired within the period of six months from the date of service of notice under sub-section (2) of section 55 of the said Act by the land owners, therefore after the expiry of the period of 10 years of the coming into force of the master plan, the land sought to be acquired went out of the compulsory acquisition and the same would be deemed to have been released from acquisition. It was submitted that sub-section (2) of Section 55 provides that the owner of the land may serve on the Central Government a notice requiring his interest in the land to be acquired and if the Central Government fails to acquire the land within the period of six mo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lays down that the land for the purposes of development may be acquired under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. This contention was also advanced before the High Court, The Full Bench of the High Court after considering the arguments at length and taking all the facts and circumstances of the case into consideration recorded the following conclusion:- Assuming that the argument advanced by Mr. Lekhi is correct that once the land is notified for compulsory acquisition in Section 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, it would be deemed to have been so designated in the master plan, even then the provisions of Section 55 would not come into force till the zonal development plan is also prepared and thereafter 10 years period had elapsed and the land so designated is not acquired within the stipulated period after service of notice, only in that situation, it may be possible to say that the land has gone out of the expression of compulsory acquisition used in Section 55 of the Act. It is not possible to agree with the contentions that the land is deemed to be designated for the purpose of master plans it would not be deemed to be designated by same inference for the purpose ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t to be acquired in exercise of its power under Section 48 of the Act and, therefore, it was submitted that if one part of the land is released for the public purpose the whole land covered under the notification will stand released as the Government cannot give a differential treatment which will be get by the principles enunciated in Article 14 of the Constitution. As against this the learned counsel for the respondents refuted the allegation with regard to the withdrawal of certain land from the acquisition for the planned development of the city of Delhi. Alternatively it was submitted that the withdrawal of certain land included in the notification under Section 4 could be effected only by denotifying the release and since there is no such notification denotifying the release it could not be regarded as a release within the meaning of Section 48 of the Act. In other words Section 48 of the Act may be applied only when the release is published in the official gazette in the same manner as the notification under Section 4 and declaration under Section 6 of the Act are published in view of the provisions contained in Section 21 of the General Clauses Act and since no such notific ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion proceedings cannot be quashed on the basis of such invalid communication. In our opinion the view taken by the High Court cannot be said to be erroneous calling for any interference by this Court. 17. Here it would be relevant to refer to some of the decisions of this Court on the question of release of the land under Section 48 and its validity under the law. In the case of Chandra Bansi Singh Ors. Vs. State of Bihar Ors. 1984 (4) SCC page 316 this Court observed that perhaps the appellants wanted to persuade this Court to strike down the entire notification so that when a fresh notification is issued they may be able to get a higher compensation in view of sudden spurt and rise in the price of land and other commodities in between the period when the acquisition was made and when the actual possession was taken. This Court took the view that it was not acceptable to uphold the aforesaid process of reasoning. The release was declared to be bad as a result of which the entire notification issued under Section 4 would be deemed to be valid and the land specially belonging to the land owner would form part of the acquisition. It has been further held that the release bein ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... acquired and that there exist modern and well developed farm house with modern facilities in the land belonging to the appellant Roshanara Begum, where there are a good number of other structures and fruit bearing trees. Consequently these areas do not require further development as they are already developed and, therefore, the said land should be released from acquisition. Mr.Sanghi , learned counsel appearing for some of the appellants urged that the concerned appellant had developed a sports complex providing modern amenities therein and if the same is demolished there would be great national waste. It was, therefore, urged that such Complexes and built up areas should be deleted from the acquisition. It may be pointed out that in the master plan the land indicated in green colour is reserved for recreational facilities. The recreational facilities are also part of the planned development of Delhi and it cannot be disputed that recreational amenities are also part of the life of the people and an important feature of a developed society. Therefore, no legitimate objection can be made in the acquisition of such land which are shown in green colour. So far as the structures and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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