JORA RAM AND OTHERS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners being residents of Village Rani Khurd, Tehsil Rani, District Pali have approached this Court by way of this writ petition for assailing (1) the acquisition notice dated 15.02.2018 issued by the Ministry of Railways expressing intention for acquisition of lands belonging to the petitioners and various other persons by taking recourse of Section 20-D of the Railways Act, 1989 for acquisition of the special railway project titled as Western Dedication Freight Corridor in District Pali, State of Rajasthan and (2) the order dated 10.05.2018 passed by the competent authority cum Sub Divisional Officer, Desuri rejecting the objections submitted by the petitioners against the proposed acquisition of their lands and so also the final declaration notification dated 30.07.2018 (published in the Gazette of India on 02.08.2018 and in Rajasthan Patrika and Dainik Bhasker newspapers on 22.08.2018) issued under Section 20-E of the Railways Act, 1989.

(2.) The principle contention of Shri Shah learned counsel representing the petitioners for assailing the notification dated 15.02.2018 and the order dated 10.05.2018 was that the notification of intention to acquire the petitioners lands was never affixed on the lands under acquisition nor was it published by beating drums. The petitioners had gone out of their village and they were totally unaware of the notification dated 15.02.2018. The petitioners came to know of the notification for the first time on 04.05.2018 when the railway officers came to the lands of the petitioners for site inspection. Soon thereafter i.e. on 10.05.2018 the petitioners submitted their objections before the competent authority cum Sub Divisional Officer, Desuri. The Sub Divisional Officer, did not consider the objections submitted by the petitioners against the proposed acquisition of their land on merits and rather cursorily dismissed the same on the ground that they were delayed. He submits that though a period of thirty days is stipulated in the Section 20-D of the Railways Act, 1989 [hereinafter referred as 'the Act of 1989'] for hearing of objections, but as per him, the said provision is not mandatory in nature because no consequence is provided in the Act of 1989 that non-filing of objections within the stipulated period would non-suit the land owners. He thus, urges that the order dated 10.05.2018 passed by the competent authority and consequently the final notification dated 22.08.2018 issued under Section 20-E of the Act of 1989 deserve to be struck down qua the petitioners and the matter be remanded to the competent authority for fresh decision on the merits of objections filed by the petitioners.

(3.) Per contra, Shri Kamal Dave, advocate representing the respondents, vehemently urged that there is no requirement of pasting or affixing the initial notification under Section 20-A of the Act of 1989 at the land sought to be acquired. The only requirement of Statute is to publish the notification in two local newspapers, which was admittedly done. He further submits that the objections of persons interested in the land can be entertained only if filed within a period of thirty days of publication of the notification under Section 20-A of the Act of 1989 and no objection can be entertained thereafter. He submits that Section 20-E (1) of the Act of 1989, stipulates the consequence that if no objections are received under Section 20-A of the Act of 1989 within the stipulated period, or where the competent authority has disallowed the objections, the final notification has to follow and the land thereafter would vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances. He submits that admittedly the petitioners failed to submit their objections within the mandatory period of thirty days from the date of publication of initial notice and thus, the competent authority rightly proceeded to reject the belated objections filed by the petitioners and thereafter the final notification of acquisition too as has been issued. He urges that as per Section 20-E (4) of the Act of 1989, a declaration made by the Central Government under Section 20-E (1) cannot be called into question in any Court or by any other authority. He further pointed out that the land in question is being acquired for the special railway project titled as Western Dedication Freight Corridor as defined in Section 2 (37-A) of the Act, 1989 which is required to be completed in the specified time frame. He points out that the total length of the project is about 1400 odd kms and part of the corridor has already been completed and commissioned. The railway authorities are having a target of December, 2018 to complete and commission the corridor between Phulera to Marwar. He thus urges that a project of national importance meant for providing national infrastructure for public purpose cannot be stalled at the instance of land owners who failed to file timely objections against the initial notification of acquisition. He further made statement at Bar that for the total distance of 1400 odd kms to be covered by the corridor almost all the adjoining lands except for one bigha or so have been acquired and the project is running full stream ahead and is scheduled to be completed in its stipulated time frame. On these grounds Shri Dave grave dismissal of the writ petition.