G. RADHAKRISHNA CHETTIAR AND ORS. Vs. THE STATE OF MADRAS REPRESENTED BY SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an application under Article 226of the Constitution for the issue of suitable directions in regard to proceedings taken under the Madras -Town Planning Act for the acquisition of certain land belonging to the petitioner for the purpose of forming certain roads under a scheme framed in the Tiruchirapalli Town.

(2.) IT is necessary to state a few facts to understand the points raised. The petitioners who are three in number are owners of the lands which are specified in the affidavit in support of the petition and which are all situate in Ward No. 3 of the Tiruchirapalli Municipality. By a notification issued under Section 12 of the Madras. Town Planning Act, the Provincial Government required the Tiruchirapalli municipality to prepare, publish and submit for their sanction a draft scheme on or before 31st March, 1945. The municipality, however, did not submit the scheme within the time specified in this notification but they submitted it in the year 1950, and by an order, dated 29th July, 1950, Government sanctioned the Salai Roaa Town Extension Scheme. The notification of the sanction of Government to this scheme was published in the official Gazette under Section 14(5) of the Town Planning Act, on 21st November, 1950. Under the scheme as thus sanctioned and published certain lands belonging to the three petitioners have been specified as being required for the purpose of making a road. The legal effect of so specifying the lands as required for the purpose of the scheme is to be found in Section 34 of the Town Planning Act which enacts:

(3.) IT will be seen from the terms of Section 34 which I have set out above that if the provisions of that section were to be availed of, the land would have to be acquired within three years from the date of the notification. As the date of the notification, that is, the publication in the official Gazette under Section 14(5) was on 21st Novembers, 1950, the acquisition to be effective under Section 34 had to be completed before 21st November, 1953. A decision of a Bench of this Court has interpreted the expression "acquired within three years from the date of the notification" occurring in Section 34 as meaning that the acquisition must be completed in the sense of possession being taken within the time there specified Vide Bommanna Chettiar v. The Province of Madras : AIR 1945 Mad 442 . In order to conform to the time limited by this section, Government published a notification under Section 17(2) of the Land Acquisition Act (1 of 1894) as amended by this State Legislature and directed the responsible authority to take possession of the land with immediate effect. This notification was on 26th October, 1953 and it is stated by the respondent that possession of the various portions of the lands were taken on the 15th, 16th and 19th November, 1953 and that the acquisition was, therefore, completed within the three years specified in the last portion of Section 34.