Civil Appeals Nos 1237 and 123872
From the Judgment and Order dated 8 11 71 of the Orissa High Court in OJC Nos 339 and 385 of 1968
AND Civil Appeal No 1730 of 1973
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 26th February 1973 of the Orissa High Court in OJC No 130 of 1973
Gobind Das Mrs section Bhandare MS Narasimhan A K Mathur AK Sharma and Miss Malini Paduval for the Appellants in all the appeals
DP Singh and GS Chatterlee for Respondent No 1 in CAs
1237 3872
Santosh Chatterjee and GS Chatterjee for Respondent No 2 in CAs
1237 3872
B Parthasarthi for Respondents 1 3 and 4 in CA 173073
LN Sinha Sol
Gen of India and Vinoo Bhagat for Respondent 7 in CA 173073
Nemo for Respondents 2 5 6
in CA 173073
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KHANNA J
This judgment would dispose of three civil appeals Nos 1237 and 1238 of 1972 and 1730 of 1973 against the judgment of Orissa High Court
The first two appeals have been filed on certificate while the third appeal has been filed by special leave
We may first deal with civil appeals 1237 and 1238
On February 22 1954 a notification was issued under sub sec tion 1 of section 3 of the Orissa Development of Indus tries Irrigation Agriculture Capital Construction and Resettlement of Displaced Persons Land Acquisition Act 1948 Orissa Act XVIII of 1948 hereinafter 668 referred to as the Act by the Government of Orissa for the acquisition of 78 square miles of land for the development of industries
namely establishment of a steel plant and allied and ancillary industries
The steel plant mentioned in the notification subsequently  came to be known as the Rourkela steel plant
Another notification was issued on February 9 1955 for the acquisition of further four square miles of land for the above purpose
It may be mentioned that according to section 5 1 of the Act when a notice of acquisition is served or is published under section 4 the land shall vest absolutely in the State Government free from all encumbrances on the date the  notice is served or pub lished in the gazette
The appellants who were owners of some of the acquired lands filed writ petitions before the  High Court challenging the validity of the acquisition
The High Court dismissed both the petitions
In appeal before us Mr Gobind Das on behalf of the appellants has contended that the State Government was not competent to acquire the land in question under the Act for the establishment of a steel plant
Our attention is invit ed in this connection to sub section 1  of section 3 of the Act which provides inter alia that whenever it appears to the State Government that it is necessary or expedient to acquire speedily any land for the purpose of the devel opment of industry a notification to that effect shall be published in the gazette stating the area and the boundaries of the land proposed to be acquired
The argument of Mr Gobind Das is that the acquisition of the land for the establishment of a steel plant cannot be said to be for the purpose of the development of the industry
It is not denied by the learned counsel that a steel plant constitutes an industrial undertaking and that the object of establish ing a steel plant is not different from the purpose of the development of the industry as ordinarily understood
It also cannot be disputed that Rourkela steel plant consti tutes a big milestone in the industrial development of the country
The contention of Mr Gobind Das however is that the words development of industries have a limited meaning as defined in the Act and the establishment of a steel plant cannot be considered to be for development of industries
The definition of development of industries has been given in section 2c of the Act
According to the definition development of industries means and includes the construc tion of the Hirakud Dam and other dams and reservoirs Hydro Electric Projects and such other schemes or projects as the State Government may by notification from time to time specify in this behalf
We have already mentioned above that the first notification for the acquisition of land was issued on February 22 1954
Two days before that notification on February 20
1954 the Governor of Orissa issued a notification in pursuance of clause c of section 2 of the Act
In that notification it was stated that the project for the establishment of a steel plant and allied and ancillary industries in the block of villages round about Rourkela
shall be included within the meaning of the expression development of industries as defined in clause c of section 2 of the Act
In the face of this notification we are of the opinion that the establishment of the steel plant and ancillary industries at Rourkela should be held to answer to the definition of development of industries as given in the Act
We are unable to subs 669 cribe to the submission of Mr Gobind Das that the schemes and projects which could be the subject matter of a notifi cation under section 2c must be such as are similar to Hirakud Dam or other HydroElectric projects
Clause c of section 2 confers wide powers on the State Government to notify any scheme or project as it may consider appropriate for the development of industries and we find nothing in that clause that the scheme or project which can be the subject matter of a notification must be one similar to Hirakud Dam or other dams or reservoirs or hydro electric projects
It is then argued by Mr Gobind Das that part of the lands which were acquired for the purpose of steel plant and ancillary industries are being used as a civil township
It is contended that the acquired land could only be used for the steel plant and ancillary industries and not for a civil township
This contention is equally devoid of force
The establishment of a steel plant necessarily postulates the construction of residential quarters for the workmen to be employed in the  plant
In addition to that lands would be needed for shopping areas for schools for the children of the employees for play grounds for hospitals and for residential quarters of persons opening their shops cater ing to the needs of the employees of the steel plant
Lands would likewise be need for post offices banks clubs parks cinemas roads police stations as also for cremation and burial of the dead
Land would also be needed for a variety of other purposes and civic amenities
A township is a necessary adjunct and concomitant of a big steel plant
The fact therefore that part of the land which was ac quired has been used for civil township would not in our opinion affect the validity of the acquisition of the land
In civil appeal 1237 of 1972 Mr Gobind Das has also advanced an argument that possession of the land was not taken from the appellant
We however find that the judg ment of the High Court shows that no such contention was advanced before the High Court when the writ petition giving rise to this appeal was argued
In the circumstances we are not inclined to permit the appellant to raise this contention for the first time in appeal before us
Civil appeal 1730 of 1973 arises out of writ petition to challenge the validity of a notification dated march 19 1958 under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for the acquisition of 3106 acres of land for expansion of rail facilities to serve the steel plant at Rourkela
A writ petition to challenge this notification was filed on February 3 1973
The contention which was advanced before the High Court and has been repeated before us with a view to challenge the validity of the acquisition of this land is that fourteen years after the acquisition of the land the railway authorities for whom the land was acquired have transferred 321 acres of land to the Notified Area Commit tee Rourkela
The above submission in our opinion is without merit
According to the affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents the above mentioned area is sought to be transferred to the Notified Area Committee because the Notified Area Committee is the appropriate body to construct and maintain the 670 link road bus and taxi stands and shops surrounding the railway station
The averments contained in the affidavit thus go to show that 321 acres of land is not being used for a purpose extraneous from that for which the land was initially acquired
Apart from that we find that this Court has recently held in the case of Gulam Mustafa  Ors
vs State of Maharashtra  Ors
1 that there is no princi ple of law by which a valid compulsory acquisition stands voided because long later the requiring authority diverts it to a public purpose other than the one stated in the decla ration
All the three appeals consequently fail and are dis missed but in the circumstances without costs
Appeals dismissed


Summary:
Section 2c of the Orissa Development of Industries Irrigation Agriculture Capital construction and Resettle ment of Displaced persons Land Acquisition Act 1948 Act XVIII of 1948 defines development of industries to mean and include the construction of Hirakund Dam and other dams and reservoirs Hydro Electric Projects and such other schemes or property as the State Government may by a notifi cation specify in this behalf
By a notification dated 20th February 1954 it was stated that the project for the establishment of a steel plant and allied and ancillary industry in the block of villages round about Rourkela shall be included within the meaning of the expression develop ment of industries as defined in cl
c of section 2 of the Act
By notification dated 22nd February 1954 and 9th Febru ary 1955 82 sq
miles of land was acquired for the devel opment of industries namely establishment of steel plant and allied and ancillary industries
The above land vested absolutely in the State Government free from all encum brances on the dates of the above notifications
The writ petitions filed by some owners of some of the acquired lands challenging the validity of the acquisition were dismissed in limine
In appeal to this Court the appellants contended a the State Government was not competent to acquire the land in question under the Act for the establishment of a steel plant as it cannot be said to be for the purpose of the development of industry b the acquired land could only be used for the steel plant and ancillary industries and not for a civil township c the transfer of 321 acres of land by the Railway authorities long after 14 years of the acqui sition to the Notified Area Committee for construction of taxi stand busroad etc
in and around the Railway Station is bad
Dismissing the appeals to this Court HELD 1 In the face of the notification dated 20th February 1954 and 2c of the Orissa Development of
Indus try Irrigation Agriculture Capital Construction and Resettlement of Displaced Persons Land Acquisition Act 1948 the establishment of steel plant and ancillary indus tries at Rourkela answers to the definition of development of industries as given in the Act
668 G H Clause c of Section 2 confers wide powers on the State Government to notify any scheme or project as it may consid er appropriate for the development of industries and there is nothing in that clause that the scheme or project can be the subject matter of a notification must be similar to Hirakund Dam or other dams or reservoirs or hydro electric projects
669 A B 2 The contention that the acquired land could only be used for the steel plant and ancillary industries and not for the civil township is devoid of force
A township is a necessary adjunct and concomitant of a big steel plant
The establishment of a steel plant necessarily postulates the construc 667 tion of residential quarters for the workmen shopping areas schools hospitals post offices etc
The fact therefore that part of the land which was acquired has been used for civil township would not affect the validity of the acquisition of the land
669 C D 3 There is no principle of law by which a valid compulsory acquisition stands void because long later the requiring authority diverts it to a public purpose other than the one stated in the declaration
In the instant case the transfer of 321 acres of the land by the Railways is to the Notified Area Committee who is the appropriate body to construct and maintain the link roads bus and taxi stands and shop surrounding the Railway Station
The land is not being used for a purpose extraneous from that for which the land was initially acquired
669 G H 670 A B Gulam Mustafa  Ors
vs State of Maharashtra  Ors
1976 I SCR 875 applied