HARI PANDURANG Vs. SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA IN COUNCIL AND THE TRUSTEES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE CITY OF BOMBAY AND JAMES MCNEILL, SPECIAL COLLECTOR UNDER THE LANDACQUISITION ACT FOR THE ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE CITY OF BOMBAY IMPR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the year 1898 certain improvements were projected in the City of Bombay, and an Act called the City of Bombay Improvement Act, 1898, was passed giving to a Board thereby constituted certain powers with a view to carry these improvements into effect.

(2.) On the 25 September, 1902, there was published in the Bombay Government Gazette a declaration purporting to be in pursuance of the Act, stating that the Governor of Bombay in Council had sanctioned a street scheme made by the Trustees for the Improvement of the City of Bombay under the provisions of the Act (that being the style of the Board thereby constituted) and that certain lands, including those in suit, were "needed to be acquired by the said Trustees for the purposes of executing the said street scheme" and were required for a public purpose.

(3.) On the 27 November, 1902, the plaintiffs received notices addressed to Pandurang Nilaji, their deceased father, and also to each of them in the following terms: Notice is hereby given that the undermentioned piece of ground, with the building thereon erected, situated within the limits of the Registration District of Bombay, in the Island of Bombay, and recently marked cut and measured, is about to be taken by Government for a public purpose, viz., for the street scheme No. III from Elphinstone Bridge to Queen's Road proposed by the Trustees for the Improvement of the City of Bombay, under Act I of 1894 in accordance with a declaration, dated 22nd September, 1902, published in the Bombay Government Gazette of the 16 September 1902. If you have any interest in this land and building, or are entitled to act for person so interested, you arc hereby called upon to appear personally or by agent on Friday, the 12 December, 1902, at 11 A.M. at the office of the Special Collector, Bombay, in the Chartered Bank New Buildings, opposite Queen's Statue, on Esplanade Road, to state and prove by documents the nature of such interests in the land or building, and the amount and particulars of any claim you may wish to prefer for the same. All that piece or parcel of land or ground, together with buildings erected thereon, situate at 7 Khetwady Lane, assessed by the Collector of Land Revenue under new No. 9233 and New Survey No. 6459 and by the Collector of Municipal Bates and Taxes under D Ward, No. 1967, and street No. 18--15, bounded on the north by on the south by the property of Baboo Deoji, a Bagmali; on the west by the 7 Khetwady Lane; and on the east by the property of Jeewandas Ebji Sivji, containing an approximate area of 23d square yards, and is now in the occupation of Pandurang Nilaji. (Signed) J. McNeill,Special Collector. Accompanying each was a document to the following effect:IN THE MATEER OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT OF 1894.Notice to Claimants foe Properties to be acquiredunder the Above Act. Special Collector's Office:Bombay, 27 November, 1902. To Mr. With reference to the accompanying notice, I beg to inform you that in order to facilitate the making of awards in the large number of cases now pending before me under the above Act, the following procedure will so far as practicable, be followed: 1. On the date and at the hour mentioned in the accompanying notice, you should appear personally or by duly authorised agents and should produce your documents of title and bills for Municipal taxes and Government and Fazondari or other rents paid by you and all other documents in support of your claim, together with a statement in writing of the amount claimed in respect of the property to be acquired. 2. You should also produce on the above date, under Section 10 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, a statement in writing signed by you giving the following particulars as far as practicable: The name of every other person possessing any interest in the land or any part thereof as co-proprietor, sub-proprietor, mortgagee tenant, or otherwise, and of the nature of such interest, and of the rents and profits (if any) received or receivable on account thereof for three years next preceding the date of the statement. Should any of your documents of title be in the hands of a mortgagee or other third parties, you should obtain a sub-pana from me for the production by any such third parties of those documents. 3. If you wish to support your claim by a valuation made by an Engineer, Surveyor or others, you will be required to be prepared with such valuation with your other papers on the date mentioned in the accompanying notice, and an adjournment will not be granted on the ground that such valuation is not yet completed or that the matter has recently been placed in the hands of professional advisers, unless it be proved to any satisfaction that the delay was unavoidable. 4. In the event of the amount claimed in respect of any property not being considered reasonable, the inquiry in respect of such property will either proceed or Will be adjourned to some subsequent date, when you must be prepared to offer any evidence you may consider necessary in support of your claim. (Signed) B.H. Jayakar,for Special Collector.