HARBANS SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order of ours will dispose of Civil Writ Petitions No. 11993 and 11994 of 1995. In both the writ petitions the notifications (annexures P1 to P8) issued by respondent No. 2 - Phagwara Improvement Trust, Phagwara are sought to be quashed and along with the Residential Housing Scheme (annexure P9) is also sought to be quashed as being illegal, unjust, cryptic, arbitrary, an act of colourable exercise of power, mala fide and ultra vires the provisions of Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 (for short, to be referred as the Act of 1922 ).

(2.) THE facts common to both the writ petitions may be noticed as under. The Phagwara Improvement Trust Phagwara-respondent No. 2 passed a resolution to develop a Developmental Scheme No. 7. The total area which was proposed to be acquired, was 166 Kanals 6 Marlas (13. 80 Acres ). A notification under Section 36 of the Act 1922, which is equivalent to a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short the Act 1894) was published in the Daily Newspaper 'nawan Zamana' on 21. 6. 1993 (annexure PI), 28. 6. 1993 (annexure P2) and 5. 7. 1993 (annexure P3 ). The notification was also published in the Official Gazette on 2. 7. 1993 (annexure P4), 9. 7. 1993 (annexure P5) and 16. 7. 1993 (annexure P6 ). These notifications were published in the newspaper and Official Gazette as per requirement of Section 36 (2) (a) of the Act 1922. Thereafter, notices as per requirement of Section 38 of the Act 1922 were served on the persons referred therein. The respondent proceeded with the scheme and issued notification under Section 40 Sub-section (3) of the Act 1922 in the Punjab Government Official Gazette that an application had been submitted to the State Government under Section 40 (1) of the Act for the grant of approval for land acquisition. This notification was issued on 17. 6. 1994 vide annexure P7. The State Government vide notification dated 17. 6. 1994 accorded sanction to the developmental scheme of respondent No. 2 under Section 24 read with Section 28 (2) Sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11) and (12) of the said Act for an area measuring approximately 15 acres. The relevant notification was issued in pursuance of the provisions of Section 42 (1) of the said Act (a copy of the same has been annexed as Annexure P8 ). By a notice dated 1. 3. 1995 published in the daily newspaper 'the Tribune' the respondent-Phagwara Improvement Trust (Annexure P8 ). By a notice dated 1. 3. 1995 published in the daily newspaper 'the Tribune' the respondent-Phagwara Improvement Trust, Phagwara invited applications for residential plots under the aforesaid new developmental scheme No. 7 Tagore Nagar for three sizes of plots measuring 250 Sq. Yds. , 200 Sq. Yds. and 100 Sq. Yds. and prescribed annual income limits against each categories of size of the plots and also the advance amount to be deposited.

(3.) NOTICE of motion was issued to the respondents. Respondent No. 2 filed writ ten statement contending, inter-alia, that Section 36 of the Act envisages that when a Scheme under the Act has been framed, the Trust shall prepare a requisite notice and cause the said notice to be published weekly for three consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette or newspaper or newspapers with a statement of the period within which objections will be received. In the present case, the requisite notice with regard to the Scheme was published weekly for three consecutive weeks in the newspaper as also in the Official Gazette. It was specifically mentioned that there is no requirement that the publication of the notice in the Official Gazette must precede the publication of the notice in the newspaper. The notices were sent for publication in the Official Gazette and to the newspapers simultaneously. The Trust was however, not in the control of the sequence in which the publication was made in the Official Gazette and the newspapers. The stand of respondent No. 2 was that due compliance of the provisions of Section 36 of the Act had been made as the purpose of the publication of the notification in the newspaper as well as in the Official Gazette is to bring to the notice of the owners/ occupiers of the land sought to be acquired for the Scheme. The Scheme has been finally sanctioned by the State Government under Section 42 of the Act. There is, thus, conclusive evidence about the Scheme having been duly framed and sanctioned.