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TMI Blog1992 (2) TMI 374X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as followed by a declaration under Section 6(1) of the Act, issued on April 16, 1984. In the schedule to that declaration, Khasra number of the proposed land with respective areas were provided and in column (2) requiring the mention of "public purpose" for which the land is required it was stated for "housing scheme of Housing Board". In column (3), it was stated that the plant of land may be inspected in the office of the Collector. 4. The respondent, herein, filed a writ-petition in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, challenging the validity of the notification issued under Sections 4(1) and 17(1) of the Act as also the declaration made under Section 6(1) of the Act on various grounds. The main thrust of the challenge was that the notification under Section 4(1) of the Act was vague and invalid for non-compliance with the mandatory requirements of the Act and that recourse to the urgency provisions under Section 17(1) of the Act could not be had since the land was not "waste or arable" which is the sine qua non for exercising powers under Section 17(1) of the Act. The challenge to the notifications succeeded and the acquisition proceedings were quas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed that the absence of a finalised housing scheme could not vitiate the acquisition proceedings and that the High Court fell in error in holding that recourse could not be had to the urgency provisions under Section 17 of the Act. 8. It is settled law that the process of acquisition has to start with a notification issued under Section 4 of the Act, which is mandatory, and even in cases of urgency, the issuance of notification under Section 4 is a condition precedent to the exercise of any further powers under the Act. Any notification which is aimed at depriving a man of his properly, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act has to he strictly construed and any serious lapse on the part of the acquiring authority would vitiate the proceedings and cannot be ignored by the courts. The object of issuing a notification under Section 4 of the Act is two-fold. First, it is a public announcement by the Government and a public notice by the Collector to the effect that the land, as specified therein, is needed or is likely to he needed by the Government for I he "public purpose" mentioned therein; and secondly, it authorises the departmental officers or officers of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion of the land in the notification issued under Sections 4(1) and 17(1). in our opinion, is very cryptic. Not only no khasra numbers have been given, even the precise "locality' has not been indicated. Mere mention of Mandsaur, which is spread over an area of 25 sq, kms. and is divided into various municipal wards, against the "locality" is wholly insufficient description and the respondent or anyone else could not have come to know from that description whether 2.298 hectares of land which was required for acquisition included the land belonging to him or not. The non-disclosure of the "locality" with precision, invalidates the notification and renders the publication of notice a meaningless formality. 13. In Narendrajit Singh and Anr. v. State of U.P. and Anr. [1970]3SCR278 , while dealing with the requirements of a valid notification under Section 4 of the Act, this Court observed that the defect of non-mention of the locality where the proposed land was situate in the notification was a very serious defect vitiating the notification. In that case, the schedule-attached to the notification issued under Sections 4(1) and 17(1) of the Act read as fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s that is done the various matters which are mentioned in Sub-section (2) cannot be carried out; for instance, the officer concerned or his servants and workmen cannot do any act necessary to ascertain whether it is suitable for the purpose for which it is being acquired. If the public purpose stated in Section 4(1) is planned development of the area without anything more it is extremely difficult to comprehend how all the matters set out in Sub-section (2) can be carried out by the officer specially authorised in this behalf and by his servants and workmen. The Court then went on to say: As already noticed in the notifications under Section 4 all that was stated was that the land was required for "planned development of the area". There was no indication whatsoever whether the development was to be of residential and building sites or of commercial and industrial plots nor was it possible for any one interested in the land sought to be acquired to find out what kind of planned development was under contemplation i.e. whether the land would be acquired and the development made by the Government or whether the owners of properties would be required to develop a particula ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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