NARANG SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY a notification published in the official gazette on 16.1.1998 under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984 (as amended upto date and hereinafter called the Act), the State of Punjab sought to acquire an area of 5.15 acres of land in village Soonk Tehsil Kharar District Ropar for a public purpose namely for the construction of residential colony in the village. The construction of the residential colony is World Bank Aided Project undertaken by the Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Department. The urgency provisions under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of Section 17 of the Act as introduced in the State of Punjab were invoked on the ground that the land was urgently required for immediate construction/completion of the Project as per schedule and it was declared that the provisions of Section 5-A of the Act shall not apply to the acquisition. As required by Section 4, the notification was also published in the Daily Tribune and the Daily Ajeet on 2.2.1998. Public notice of the substance of the notification was also given in the locality. Thereafter, the State Government made a declaration to the effect that the land referred to in the notification under section 4 was needed for the public purpose mentioned therein and this declaration was made on 23.1.1998 by publishing the same in the official gazette. The notification under section 4 of the Act and declaration made under section 6 have been challenged in this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(2.) THE primary argument of the counsel for the petitioners is that the notification under section 4 of the Act having been published in the two newspapers on 2.2.1998 and in the official gazette on 16.1.1998 the date of its publication will have to be taken as 2.2.1998 and, therefore, the declaration made under section 6 on 23.1.1998 is illegal as it could not be made prior to the date of publication of the notification. Learned Deputy Advocate General, on the other hand, contended that Section 6 of the Act no where requires that the declaration cannot be made prior to the publication of the notification under section 4 of the Act and that the only embargo is that it cannot be made after the expiry of one year from the date of publication of the notification under section 4. The argument indeed is that the provisions of Section 6(1) only prescribe the outer limit beyond which the declaration under section 6 cannot be made but it can be made at any time before expiry of that period even prior to the publication of the notification under section 4. It was also urged by the learned State counsel that in the present case the provisions of urgency under section 17(4) had been invoked and it was declared that the provisions of Section 5-A shall not apply to the acquisition and, therefore, the petitioners were not prejudiced in any manner with the publication of declaration prior to the date of publication of the notification under section 4 of the Act.

(3.) DECLARATION that land is required for a public purpose. (1) Subject to the provisions of Part VII of this Act, when the appropriate Government is satisfied, after considering the report, if any, made under Section 5-A sub-section (2) that any particular land is needed for a public purpose, or for a company, a declaration shall be made to that effect under the signature of a Scecetary to such Government or some officer duly authorised to certify its orders and different declarations may be made from time to time in respect of different parcels of any land covered by the same notification under section 4 sub-section (1), irrespective of whether one report or different reports has or have been made wherever required under Section 5-A sub-section (2) Provided that no declaration in respect of any particular land covered by a notification under section 4 sub-section (1) :