FIRST LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR Vs. DAULAT SINGH SURANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the judgment and order dated 2nd December, 1996, passed by a learned single Judge on the respondents' writ petition, which had been registered in this court as Civil Order No. 13522 (W) of 1995.

(2.) By the impugned judgment and order, the notification under Section 4 dated 13th December, 1994, and the declaration under Section 6 dated 23th June, 1995, published and made by the Government of West Bengal, under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short 'the Act 1 of 1894'), in respect of a piece of land, comprising the western portion of premises No. 4, Pretoria Street, Calcutta and measuring more or less 0.0988 hectare (0.2423 acre), were set aside; with a direction upon the appellants to give back possession of the said land to the respondents.

(3.) The reasons for setting aside the Section 4 notification were: the publication thereof, having not been preceded by handing over vacant possession of the land, by the Government to the respondents, in compliance with the order dated 18th August, 1993, passed by N.K. Mitra, J (as he then, was) on the respondents' writ petition (Matter No. 3799 of 1992), had amounted to practising fraud by the Government upon the statute. The declaration under Section 6 was set aside on the ground that the statement made therein: "partly at the public expenses and partly at the expense of within the aforesaid ward": indicated total non-application of mind by the concerned authorities.