SULEMAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two precise questions fall for consideration in this batch of cases. These are :- (i) Can a fresh declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 be issued by the competent authority after an earlier declaration made under the said provision is either found or declared to be legally invalid; and (ii) If a second declaration under Section 6 of the Act is not legally barred, can the period during which a competent court has stayed further action or proceedings in pursuance of the preliminary notification be excluded while computing the period referred to in the first proviso to Section 6?

(2.) The questions arise in the following factual backdrop :-

(3.) In terms of a notification dated 30th June, 1988, land measuring 72 bighas situate in Khasra No. 1151/3 min (new) [old Khasra No. 1665] of village Mehrauli, New Delhi was notified for acquisition under Section 4 readwith Section 17(1) and (4) of the Land Acquisition Act. This was followed by a declaration dated 18th July, 1988 issued under Section 6 of the Act in respect of the entire extent of land included in the preliminary notification. Aggrieved by the said notifications, a batch of writ petitions was filed by the owners in this court which were heard and disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court on 30th August, 2001. This Court came to the conclusion that notification dated 30th June, 1988 to the extent the same denied to the petitioner land owners an opportunity to file objections under Section 5-A of the Act, was illegal. All subsequent proceedings based on the impugned notifications were also quashed with a direction that the petitioners could file their objections to the proposed acquisition within a period of 30 days to be counted from the date the petitioners obtained a certified copy of the judgment.