SHANTI DEVI Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) Notification under Section 4 of the Rajasthan Land Acquisition Act 24 of 1953 (for short the Act) was published in the State Gazette on May 13, 1960 acquiring large tracts of land including the land in Khata Nos. 261, 263-267, 269, 270, 272, 273, 520 and 521 situated in Bhojpura village which is now part of Jaipur City for planned development. Declaration under S. 6 was published on May 11, 1961. Following the procedure, an award was made on January 9, 1964. Possession was taken on April 6, 1971 and was handed over to the Jaipur Urban Development Authority on the same day under a duly drawn panchnama. Thus the title in the property of Bhurelal, the original owner was divested and stood vested in the Jaipur Urban Development Authority free from all encumbrances. Bansidhar Aggarwal and his partners Surajmal purchased the lands from the Khatedar Bhurelal who in turn sold on February 28, 1970 to Appollo Co-operative Housing Society. A writ petition was filed by Surajmal questioning the acquisition. The single Judge by his judgment dated March 31, 1971 dismissed the writ petition which was confirmed in appeal on April 12, 1973, reported in, AIR 1974 Raj 116). On further appeal to this Court, this Court dismissed the appeal on September 17, 1974 reported in Indrapuri Griha Nirman Sahkari Samiti Ltd. vs. State of Rajasthan, (1975) 4 SCC 296. Thus the notification under S. 4(1) stood confirmed. The Appollo Nagar Housing Society said to have sold the plots to the appellants and allotted the same on May 31, 1971. It would appear that during the pendency of the writ petition and writ appeal stay of dispossession was obtained and it was claimed that the Chairman U.I.T., Jaipur had offered allotment of the lands to the Appollo Nagar Housing Society on January 5, 1972 @ Rs. 8 per sq. yard which Appollo was claimed to have accepted on January 15, 1972 and started construction on the land. When the Munsif Magistrate was moved for stay of unauthorised construction, ultimately petition was dismissed. But when the Urban Development Authority resisted their construction they invoked the jurisdiction of the Civil Court by filing a suit for perpetual injunction. Ultimately in Civil Revision No. 769 of 1985 dated February 14, 1986, the High Court dismissed the revision with certain observations to wit that Appollo Nagar Greh Nirman Sehkari Samiti had neither prima facie title nor had balance of convenience been proved nor had irreparable loss that would be caused been established.

(3.) On August 30, 1988 when the Jaipur Development Authority started demolition of the structures, the appellants filed Writ Petition No. 2956 of 1988 and sought for declaration that the land in question stood acquired or construction regularised in their favour and for perpetual injunction to restrain the respondents from interfering with their constructions in respect of their plots. It may be relevant to mention at this juncture that the appellants amended the writ petition and also filed additional affidavit. In the writ petition the case set up was that the Government invited, by public notice, applications for conversion of the agricultural lands into urban lands and regularisation of the construction made thereon and pursuant thereto they had deposited the total sum of Rs. 91,006.58 p. The Government had accepted the same. A letter in proof thereof was issued by the Addl. Collector (South) on November 22, 1985 and marked in the High Court as Annexure-8. And it was also pleaded that the appellants were hopeful that the Government would deacquire the property and regularise the unauthorised construction they had made. Instead, the respondents had chosen to demolish part of their construction on August 30, 1988 and repeated the demolition of the remaining construction by August 31, 1988. The Division Bench of the High Court in the impugned judgment dated November 26, 1988 dismissed the writ petition. Thus this appeal by special leave.