MEHTAB LAIQ AHMED SHAIKH Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The full bench is called upon to answer the following question: -

(2.) To answer this question, we will have to consider the historical perspective of the land acquisition and the town planning laws. The acquisition of private lands in India is statutorily regulated for almost 150 years. The law has gone through changes from time to time. The long standing land acquisition enactment was replaced by a new law a few years ago. In the erstwhile Bombay region, and now Maharashtra, the laws dealing with town planning are in operation since almost a century. The interplay between the state law governing town planning and the central law dealing with land acquisition has fallen for consideration of the Supreme Court on more than one occasion. A brief outline of the growth and the features of the acquisition laws, the state town planning laws and the decisions of the Apex Court on the issue, is necessary as a prefix to the discussion.

(3.) The chronological placement of the topics is as follows. First, we will refer to the acquisition laws leading to Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Then the state town planning laws, including the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, amendments to Land Acquisition Act, decisions of the Supreme Court on the applicability of amendments to Land Acquisition Act to the town planning laws, the new acquisition law, that is the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (the RFCTLARR Act), the decision of the division bench of this Court on the applicability of the new acquisition law, amendments to the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, the rules framed by the State Government under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, and the events leading to the present Reference. After noting the rival contentions, we will address the pivotal issue as to whether the law laid down by the Supreme Court in respect of the earlier land acquisition law applies to the new acquisition law in the context of the question posed and whether there is any change in the legal position.