STATE OF TAMIL NADU Vs. L KRISHNAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CIVIL APPEAL NOS. 1865-66, 1968-70 OF 1992 CIVIL APPEAL NOS. '865-66, 1868-70 OF 1992These appeals are preferred by the State of Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Housing Board and others against the judgment of the Madras High Court allowing a batch of writ petitions and quashing three notifications issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The three notifications concerned herein are the notifications dated May, 8, 1975, August 29, 1975 and February 19, 1975. The writ petitions have been allowed relying mainly upon the earlier decision of that Court in State of Tamil Nadu v. A. Mohammad Yousef, (1990) 2 Mad LJ 149 (which has since been affirmed by this Court in State of Tamil Nadu v. A. Mohammed Yousef, (1991) 4 SCC 224 : (1992 AIR SCW 1674) and the decision of this Court in Munshi Singh v. Union of India, (1973) 1 SCR 937 :(AIR 1973 SC 1150).

(2.) The first and the main ground assigned by the High Court for quashing the said notifications is that the public purpose stated therein is vague and that on the date of issuance of the said notifications, there was not existing any final and effective scheme prepared under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu State Housing Board Act. Two other grounds assigned by the High Court in support to its decision are (i) that there was an undue delay in passing the award after the issuance of the declarations under Section 6 and (ii) non-complaince with clauses (b) and (c) of Rule 3 of the Land Acquisition Rules framed by the State Government in the course of enquiry under Section 5-A.

(3.) The public purpose stated in the three notifications is "for the implementation of housing schemes to meet the demands made by various sectors of the population under 'Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar Further Extension Scheme'", "for the creation of a new neighbourhood known as Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar Part II Scheme" and "for increasing housing accommodation for the development of South Madras neighbourhood" respectively. Enquiries under Section 5-A were held that on the basis of reports submitted in that behalf, declarations under Section 6 were made sometime in the year 1978. Awards were passed in the year 1983. The writ petitions from which these appeals arise were filed in the year 1982 and in 1983-one of them even later.