(1.) By this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioners have challenged a Notification No. F. 7(7)/97/L&B/LA/ 4252 dated 24/06/1998 issued under Section 4 read with Section 17(1) of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act). By the impugned notification large tracts of land including the land of the petitioners falling in village Samalkha within the National Capital Territory of Delhi are being compulsorily acquired. Section 17 of the Act has been invoked and the provisions of Section 5A of the Act have been dispensed with. The notification has been challenged on various grounds. However, the first and foremost ground of challenge is that invocation of Section 17 of the Act in the facts and circumstances of the case is wholly illegal and unjustified. According to the petitioners there is total non-application of mind on the part of the State Government in invoking Section 17 of the Act as also in dispensing with Section 5A of the Act. It is argued that it is a case of colourable exercise of power on the part 6f the State Government.
(2.) In support of his argument that there is total non-application of mind on the part of the State Government in invoking the provisions of Section 17 of the Act the learned Counsel for the petitioners argued that no material was placed before the. Lt. Governor who exercises the power of the State Government so as to enable him to form an opinion about urgency so as to press in service Section 17 of the Act. In view of the categorical assertion on the part of the petitioners that there is absolutely no material on record to justify resort to Section 17 of the Act, the respondents were required to produce the relevant records. We have perused the records produced by respondents and we find that there is not a single document or noting on the file to suggest any urgency from any quarter in completing the acquisition or for making out a case for invocation of Section 17. That is why the proposal received from the Rural Development Department by the Land Acquisition Department in March, 1997 was dealt with in a routine manner and the impugned notification was issued only in June, 1998. However, the final note of the Dy. Secretary (LA) dated 9/06/1998 reads as under:
(3.) On the basis of this note the Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi accorded his approval on 11/06/1998 as under: