PREM LATA DEVI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner seeks, on various grounds, quashing of the proceedings for acquisition of a piece of her land under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The subject of acquisition is a piece of land, 9.28 acres in area, forming part of survey plot Nos. 17 and 18 (with a total area of 13.98 acres) and situate at villages Ashikpur and Mugraura on the road connecting Jamalpur to Munger. The land was required for the construction of Block-cum-Circle Office, Jamalpur.

(2.) The facts of the case are brief and can be stated thus. On a requisition made by the District Development Officer, Munger, vide his letter No.650, dated 29-3-1984 a land acquisition proceeding was started by the District Land Acquisition Officer, Munger. There is some confusion concerning the date of publication of the notification under Section 4 of the Act. In para 4 of the counter-affidavit, it is stated that, "the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was published in the newspaper on 20-7-1987. . . . . .. . .", whereas in para 7 it is stated that, ".. . . . . .the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was published in the district gazette as well as in the newspaper 'Aaj' on 1-8-87." It is, however, the admitted position that a copy of the notification dated 20-7-87 issued to the petitioner under Section 4(1) of the Act, as amended and substituted by the Land Acquisition Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Bihar Amendment') was received by her on 25-9-1987. The petitioner filed objections to the acquisition of her land, inter alia, on the ground that it was an orchard and contained a large number of fruit bearing and timber yielding trees and the proposed construction would lead to the cutting down of all the trees, some of which were very valuable. The District Land Acquisition Officer, Munger after affording the petitioner an opportunity of hearing rejected her objections by order, dated 14-12-1987 (Annexure 3).

(3.) The petitioner then filed representations against the acquisition of her land before the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister of the State and the Environmental and Pollution Control Board. She also filed a review petition before the Land Acquisition Officer. It appears that the representation filed by the petitioner was passed on to the Revenue and Land Reforms Department of the State Government which treated it as an application in terms of the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 5A of the Act as amended and substituted by the Bihar Amendment. The State Government asked the Collector, Munger to give his comments on the petitioner' representation. The Collector submitted para-wise comments, dated 19-8-1988 (Annexure 'B') in which it was accepted that the land under acquisition had a large number of trees.