SADASHIV KARU JAMDADE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition by the three petitioners, out of whom petitioner No, I is the father and petitioners Nos, 2 and 3 are his sons, is directed against a notification issued by the Commissioner, Poona Division, Poona, under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, and a Government Resolution No. RPA-1069-R. I. dated 31st October 1969.

(2.) Field survey No. 534/4 area 3 acres 6 gunthas is owned by petitioner No. 2 and field survey No. 579/48 stands in the name of the petitioner No. 3, though both these fields originally stood in the name of petitioner No. 1. A notification came to be issued by the Commissioner, Poona Division, under Section 6 of tbe Land Acquisition Act acquiring a part of the area of survey No. 584/4 and the entire survey No. 579/4B. This notification refers to several other fields which, according to the notification, were needed lor a public purpose which was stated as for "resettlement of the persons likely to be affected due to Krishna Dhom Project". The Krishna Dhom Project is a project undertaken by the State of Maharashtra for construction of a dam at Dhom, According to the plan, this dam is to have canals for irrigation both on the left and the right banks of Krishna river and the total irrigable area which will he irrigated through these canals including the canals from the dam at Arphal is estimated to be 1, 59, 200 acres. The proposed expenditure for the Krishna Dhom Project is stated by the State Government to be Rupees 2550.92. The work on this project, according to the State Government, will affect 32 villages in the western part of Taluka Wai, and a village by name Vyahalis out of these 32 villages will be fully submerged. The Gao-thans of 12 of the 32 villages are expected to be fully submerged and the remaining villages will be partially submerged. As a result of this submergence the total number of persons affected will be 17,867 and, according to the Revenue Records, the Khatedars whose lands will be affected will be 2967 in number, The total land which will be submerged as a result of the Dhom Dam is expected to be 6433 acres.

(3.) Now, the case of the State Government is that until lands are acquired tor resettlement of the persons whose land will be affected by the construction of the dam, possession of their lands cannot be taken. This, therefore first necessitated acquisition of land for the purposes of settlement of the persons whose lands would be submerged as a result of the construction of the dam and as a matter of policy, the Government has decided to acquire, for the purposes of resettlement, lands from the Khatedars from the benefited zone, that is, the area falling within the command area of the said project. This decision was taken by a meeting of the senior officers of the Government including the Commissioner of Poona, the Director of Settlement and Secretary to the General Administration Department, the Chief Engineer in charge of the Project, the Collectors of Satara and Sangli and other senior officials held on 13th July 1968. They had originally made out a schedule for guidance in the matter of acquisition of the land and their decision was approved by the Government. This decision came to be formulated in the form of a Government Resolution which is also impugned in this petition.