LAWS(APH)-1966-12-7

CHILUKUR VENKATA RAGHAVACHARI Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

Decided On December 27, 1966
CHILUKUR VENKATA RAGHAVACHARI Appellant
V/S
STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India questioning G.O.Ms. No. 161, Housing, Health and Municipal Administration Department, dated 30th July, 1962, issued under sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Anahra Pradesh Housing Schemes (Acquisition of Land) Act, (XXXIX of 1961), hereinafter to be referred to as the Act. By the said G.O., the Government authorised the Collector (Land Acquisition) of Hyderabad to exercise the powers of the Government in respect of the lands to be acquired for the Housing Schemes, which were shown in the Annexure : S. No. 37/2-Acs. 3-15 guntas and S. No. 37/3-5 guntas. The amount of compensation fixed for the said extents as Rs. 46,050 and Rs. 150 respectively. The owners of the lands, the petitioners herein, have challenged the Act as violating Article 14 of the Constitution and as also offending Aiticle 31 (2) of the Constitution. Though the petitioners have questioned the validity of the Act itself in their petition, the learned Counsel appearing for them has confined his criticism to section 6 of the Act which says : " The amount payable as compensation shall be as specified in column (4) of the Schedule against the land specified in columns (1) to (3) thereof." Before considering the criticism directed against the said provision, I may state the relevant facts. The City Improvement Board of Hyderabad was formed in 1321 Fasli under a Firman issued by the Nizam. In 1324 Fasli certain rules for the acquisition of lands by the City Improvement Board were published in the Gazette of the Hyderabad Government. The City Improvement Board issued notifications under the said Rules seeking to acquire lands for improving the city of Hyderabad. Under those notifications, certain acquisitions were made and buildings were also constructed. In some cases acquisition proceedings were pending.

(2.) The Hyderabad City Improvement Board (Land Acquisition) Act, 1951 superseded the earlier rules and conferred power on the Board to acquire lands for improving the city, and that Act saved all notifications issued and actions taken under the 1324 Fasli Rules. Under the said Act certain proceedings were taken for the acquisition of land. In 1954 the Hyderabad Land Acquisition Act, 1309 Fasli was amended by the Hyderabad Act XXI of 1954 making the Hyderabad Land Acquisition Act, 1309 Fasli applicable to the Municipal limits of the City of Hyderabad for purposes of all acquisitions of land made or required for the City improvement. The Amending Act repealed the Hyderabad City Improvement Board (Land Acquisition) Act, 1951 and the Rules of 1324 Fasli. But the Act of 1954, however, saved all notifications and acts done in exercise of the powers conferred on the Government or any officer or servant of the Government or the City Improvement Board or any person acting under its instructions under the Act of 1951 or the Rules of 1324 Fasli. The Hyderabad Housing Board Act came into force in 1956 with an avowed object of dealing with and meeting the need of housing accommodation. In the year 1959, the Legislature enacted the Land Acquisition (Andhra Pradesh) Extension and Amendment Act, 1959 (XX of 1959). By the said Act, the Hyderabad Land Acquisition Act of 1309 Fasli was repealed and any action taken thereunder was saved. When acquisition proceedings on the basis of old notifications were taken by the Board, the interested persons questioned the validity of the notifications before the Court. The High Court held that in as much as certain of the notification questioned did not specify the approximate area of the land to be acquired, they were not in compliance with the Rules, and so no action could be taken in pursuance of the notifications.

(3.) It was in the said state of affairs that Act XXXIX of 1961 was passed, which was " an Act to provide for the acquisition of certain lands required for the purpose of executing housing schemes under the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Housing Board Act, 1956." Under the said Act, section 16 provided that all notifications issued before the commencement of the Act in respect of any land acquired under the Act were cancelled and should be deemed never to have been issued. It is sufficient to notice that section 3 (1) of the Act provides for the acquisition of land by the Government for the purpose of executing housing schemes under the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Housing Board Act, 1956 (XLVI of 1956). Subsection (3) of section 3 provides for the delegation of power by the Government to any Officer for the purpose of the said acquisition. Section 6 of the Act provides for the compensation as specified in the schedule. It is important to notice here that the schedule appended with reference to section 3 (1) and section 6 of the Act sets out the description of the land, the survey number, the extent and the amount of compensation in columns. The amount of compensation shown in the schedule is the same as was fixed under prior notifications of the Hyderabad Government. That is evident from the Statement of objects and reasons of the Act. I may appropriately extract here the statement of objects and reasons: " At the instance of the then City Improvement Board, land acquisition proceedings in respect of the lands specified in the schedule to the Bill were initiated by the erstwhile Government of Hyderabad. But the proceedings were challenged by one of the landholders in the High Court of Hyderabad and the High Court held the proceedings to be invalid on the ground that the area of the land was not specified in the Land Acquisition Notification. In view of the said decision of the High Court the land acquisition proceedings in respect of the other lands also could not be proceeded with because the notifications issued in respect of those lands also were open to the same objection. The Government have therefore decided to undertake special legislation to provide for the acquisition of the lands specified in the Schedule on payment of the compensation mentioned therein which has been fixed acording to the value which existed at the time when land acquisition proceedings were first started as aforesaid. The land so acquired will be transferred to the Housing Board constituted under the Housing Board Act, for executing housing schemes framed under that Act.