CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. DATE OF DECISION: March 31, 2011. Parties Name Neel Kanth ...PETITIONER VERSUS The State of Haryana and another ...RESPONDENTS CORAM: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jasbir Singh Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg PRESENT: Mr. S.C. Sibal, Sr. Adv., with Mr. B.S. Rana, Advocate, for the petitioner Mr. Kamal Sehgal, Addl. A.G., Haryana; Jasbir Singh, J. (oral) JUDGMENT This order will dispose of two writ petitions , i.e., Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 13379 of 1991 and 2917 of 1992. In both the writ petitions, common question of law and facts are involved. To dictate order, facts are being mentioned from CWP No. 13379 of 1991. By filing this writ petition, the petitioner has laid challenge to a notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, (in short the Act) on October 19, 1989, (P-3) proposing to acquire 50 Kanals CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -2- and 12 Marlas of land for a public purpose, namely, for land scaping, roads, footpaths, parks, widenings of sacred place and various other developmental activities to be undertaken by Kurukshetra Development Board in Pehowa. Further challenge has been laid to a declaration issued on December 21, 1990, ordering acquisition of 1 Kanal 8 Marlas of land falling in Khasra No.72//39/2. It is stated by the petitioner that in the above said land, he had constructed one shop on November 2, 1988 and another two shops in the last week of March, 1989. Petitioner further alleges that he had rented out those shops and the lease amount is the only source of his livelihood. Primary objection to the notifications is that there was no proper publication as per law and further that declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued beyond the period of limitation, i.e., one year after the last date of publication of notification under Section 4 of the Act. In paragraph No. 3 of the writ petition, it was averred as under: “That the respondent No. 1 purported to have issued notification under Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 hereinafter called the Act dated 19.10.90 for acquisition of the disputed land of the petitioner alongwith another land mentioned in the notification for public purpose namely for land scaping, roads, footpaths, widening of Tirth and various other development activities for Kurukshetra Development Board in Pehowa. This notification was published in the official gazette only on December 26, 1989. It is surprising that the date of publication in the gazette has been given on CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -3- 19.10.1989, whereas it was actually published on 26.12.1989in the gazette. The declaration of this notification was alleged to be published on 5.1.1990 in the locality. So much so, the substance of notification was not at all published in the locality in accordance with the prescribed procedure. Neither the public notice of substance of such notification was made available at some convenient place in the area in accordance with the prescribed procedure. The contents of the proclamation made by the Chowkidar in the Local area are vague and indefinite as to what was announced by the Chowkidar in the local area at what place or places. It is very important to mention here that Pehowa is a large town having population of more than eighty thousand, having so many wards, streets and mohallas. So, by mentioning the name of town that proclamation was made in the town does not fulfill the requirement of Section 4/5-A of the Act. Under such circumstances the petitioner filed objections under section 5-A on 6.2.1990 and could not explain his case in details due to defect of publication of notification in the locality. The said objections of the petitioner have not so far been decided by respondent No. 2 as no information has yet been received by the petitioner. A true copy of the notification under section 4 dated 19.10.1990 and true copy of report Rojnamcha No. 185 dated 5.1.90 along with true translation is attached as Annexure P/3 and P/4 respectively to this petition.” CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -4- Upon notice, reply has been filed, wherein it is stated as under: “3. That the contents of para 3 of the petition are denied being incorrect. The shops in question are lying unoccupied since the date of their construction as will be proved from the assessment register of Municipal Committee, Pehowa for the year 1991-92, a copy of which is enclosed at Annexure R/1. 3. In reply to para 3 of the petition it is admitted that notification dated 19.10.1989 (P/3) was issued by the answering respondent under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for acquisition of 6 Acre 2 Kanal 12 Marlas of land in village Pehowa for a public purpose namely for landscaping, roads, footpaths, widening of Tirath and various other developmental activities of the Kurukshetra Development Board. The notification was published in the official gazette on 26.12.1989. In order to give wide publicity to the publication of notification in the locality the substance of notification was got published in the Indian Express on 12.1.1990 and the Dainik Tribune on 13.1.90. The proclamation made by way of drum beat on 5.1.1990 regarding the publication of notification is in accordance with law provision and was rightly done. It is incorrect to say that the petitioner could not file detailed objections against the acquisition of his land due to defect in publication of notification. From the perusal of the position CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -5- explained above it will be seen that all statutory requirements were fulfilled to get the notification published in accordance with law. Objections dated 6.2.1990 were filed by the petitioner under section 5-A of the Act against the acquisition of his land. The objections so filed were heard and considered by the District Revenue Officer -cum- Land Acquisition Collector, Kurukshetra and were rejected as these were not justified. The report made by the District Revenue Officer -cum- Land Acquisition Collector, Kurukshetra under section 5A of the Act was considered by the answering respondent and was accepted as a consequence of which notification dated 21.12.1990 was issued under section 6 of the Act for acquisition of the land.” Heard counsel for the parties. It is apparent from the records that the land was required for beautification of a sacred place at Pehowa (Kurukshetra), which is visited by lakhs and lakhs of devotees every year. The land is to be utilised for widening of the roads, Prikrama of the Brahm Sarovar etc. So far as objection of the petitioner to the publication of Section 4 of the Act notification is concerned, in reply it is stated that the notification was published in the Indian Express and Dainik Tribune Newspapers on January 12, 1990 and January 13, 1990, respectively. We feel that the averment made is absolutely correct because the petitioner had also filed objections under Section 5-A of the Act to the proposed acquisition in the first week of CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 13379 OF 1991 -6- February, 1990. Perusal of the averment made by the parties further reveal that the declaration under Section 6 of the Act was issued on December 21, 1990, i.e., within one year from the date of last publication of the notification under Section 4 of the Act, i.e., on January 13, 1990. Complete detail has been given in that regard in para No. 7 of the written-statement. Even by filing a replication, the factual position, as mentioned above, has not been controverted. So far as CWP No. 2917 of 1992 is concerned, admittedly land owned by the petitioners therein was vacant when it was acquired. No case is made out for interference. Dismissed. ( Jasbir Singh ) Judge (Rakesh Kumar Garg) Judge March 31 , 2011. DKC