1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.486 OF 2009 Dadabhau s/o Shankar Shermale, Age: 28 years, Occ: Agri., R/o. Samnapur, Tq. Sangamner, District Ahmednagar. .. Petitioner Versus 1. The State of Maharashtra, (Through Secretary, Revenue and Forest Deptt., Mantralaya, Mumbai), 2. The Collector, Ahmednagar, Collector Compound, Ahmednagar. 3. The Special Land Acquisition Officer No.3 Ahmednagar, Collector Compound, Ahmednagar. 4. The Tahsildar, Sangamner. 5. The District Rehabilitation Officer, (Punarvasan Adhikari), for Ahmednagar District. 6. Abbasbhai S. Shaikh, President, Dharangrust Seva Sangh, Maharashtra Rajya, R/o. Guha, Tq. Rahuri, District Ahmednagar. .. Respondents ... Mr. A.Z. Gandhi, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. K.J. Ghute Patil, A.G.P. for respondent Nos.1 to 5. Mr. P.B. Vikhe Patil, Advocate for respondent No.6. ... 2 CORAM : S.B. DESHMUKH, & SHRIHARI P. DAVARE,JJ. DATE : 4TH DECEMBER, 2009. ORAL JUDGMENT : PER SHRIHARI P. DAVARE, J. Leave to correct prayer clause­D. 2. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent of the learned Counsel for the parties, this petition is taken up for final hearing at the stage of admission. 3. By the present petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for writ of certiorari or any other writ to quash and set aside the letter/order dated 12­11­2008 No. LQ/kavi/1212/2008 passed by respondent No. 3 Special Land Acquisition Officer No.3, Ahmednagar, vide Exhibit­C (Page 22­B) and also prayed for writ of certiorari or any other writ to delete remarks "Punarvasan Sampadit Kshetra 2 H. 2 R" on Gat No. 24/1 from village Samnapur Tq. Sangamner, District 3 Ahmednagar, as per notification No. 26­ A/772/2008 Ahmednagar dated 27­06­2008 issued by the Collector, Ahmednagar. 4. Respondent No. 1 is the State of Maharashtra, respondent No. 2 is the Collector and Resettlement Administrator for Ahmednagar District, respondent No. 3 is the Special Land Acquisition Officer for Ahmednagar District and specifically acquisition for Nilwande Dam, respondent No. 4 is the Tahasildar, Sangamner, whereas respondent No. 5 is the Resettlement Officer for District Ahmednagar (Punarvasan Adhikari). Respondent No. 6 is the person, who apply towards the Special Land Acquisition Officer No. 3 on 08­10­2008 requesting to acquire the land of the petitioner. 5. It is the contention of the petitioner that a notification was issued on 16­05­1978 by the Revenue and Forest Department bearing No. RPA/1077/1248/R­I to acquire the land under the 4 Maharashtra Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1986 under Section 12 thereof, which is the subject matter of this Writ Petition and the said notification effected on record of rights by Mutation Entry No. 2868 which is produced at Exhibit­A (Page 15). It is also contention of the petitioner that respondent No. 2 ­ Collector, Ahmednagar issued notification dated 27­06­2008 which is also the subject matter of the present Writ Petition and the said notification is produced at Exhibit­B (Page 16). Thereafter, the letter was issued by respondent No.3 for acquisition of Gat No. 24/1 from village Samnapur Tq. Sangamner District Ahmednagar, which is produced at Exhibit­C collectively (Page 22). 7/12 extract of land Gat No. 24/1 is also produced at Exhibit­D (Page 32). 6. It is the further contention of the petitioner that respondent No. 1 issued notification No. RPA/1077/1248/R­I dated 5 16­05­1978 and applied provisions of Section 12(1) (2) (3) and (4) of the Maharashtra Project Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1986, for Nilwande Dam District Ahmednagar (on Pravara river). 7. It is also the contention of the petitioner that by Mutation Entry No. 2868 from village Samnapur, Tq. Sangamner dated 27­03­1979, the Maharashtra Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1986 under Section 12 effected all 25 Survey Number including Survey No. 24/1 of the petitioner and effected remarks of "Punarvasan Sampadit" on other rights column. 8. Accordingly, respondent No. 2 Collector, Ahmednagar by notification No. Desk/26A/772/2008 dated 27­06­2008 under sub section (1) of Section 12 of the Maharashtra Project Affected Persons Rehabilitation Act, 1986, declared that "no further land of as per list village or area therefrom in Akole, Sangamner, Shrirampur, 6 Kopargaon, Rahata and Rahuri talukas of Ahmednagar District in the benefited zone of the said project excluding the land which is under process of land acquisition (List of land acquisition proposals is affixed with this notification) is required for the purposes of the said Act". 9. It is the further contention of the petitioner that village Samnapur was excluded from the land acquisition for project affected persons as per declaration of the Collector, Ahmednagar dated 27­06­2008. Due to the said notification, respondent No.3 was stopped to acquire the land of the petitioner from Samnapur village. 10. It is further contention of the petitioner that letter/order was issued by the Special Land Acquisition Officer­respondent No.3 on 12­11­2008 stating that land Gat No. 24/1, 2H 2R be transferred in the name of the District 7 Resettlement Officer (Punarvasan Adhikari). It is the contention of the petitioner that the said order itself is a breach of the Collector's notification and hence the petitioner has filed present Writ Petition assailing the said order. 11. It is also the contention of the petitioner that he applied to delete the remark "Punarvasan Sampadit" from Gat NO. 24/1 of village Samnapur, Tq. Sangamner District Ahmednagar on 23­09­2008. However, till today, no action has been taken by the Collector, Ahmednagar to delete the remark from other rights column of 7/12 extract. 12. Respondent No. 5 filed affidavit in reply dated 22­07­2009 which is sworn in by Mr. Jaising s/o Rukha Valvi, working as Tahsildar (Resettlement) in the office of District Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar, District Ahmednagar, and thereby opposed the present petition. He stated in Para. 3 of the said reply that as per slab register of village 8 Samnapur, Taluka Sangamner, District Ahmednagar as on 15­07­1978 total area of the land of Shri. Shankar Dada Shermale i.e. petitioner's father was 23 Acres and 27 Gunthas which is more than 8 acres (3.23 hector). Out of the said land, 2 Hectors 02 Ares land was liable for acquisition and therefore, said land was required to be acquired from Survey No. 24. However, the details of the acquisition proceedings are not available presently and therefore, a letter was issued to the Special Land Acquisition Officer No.10, Ahmednagar for sending details regarding acquisition of the area from Survey No. 24 of the petitioner. It is also submitted that however, the said S.L.A.O. Ahmednagar has submitted the report to the office respondent No. 5 that they are not sure as to whether award is declared or not. He further stated that in this regard, the S.L.A.O. No. 10 Ahmednagar has further informed that the said office is taking steps to search out the total files and detail report would be sent after file is traced out 9 and thereafter necessary action would be taken in accordance with law, as early as possible and copy of the said letter dated 20­07­2009 was annexed to the said reply at Exhibit­R­1. 13. Moreover, respondent No. 5 filed another affidavit on 10­09­2009 which is sworn in by Smt. Pradnya Bade ­ Misal, working as District Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar and she has stated in the said affidavit that as submitted in earlier affidavit in respect of the file pertaining to the acquisition of land was misplaced and therefore, it was difficult to make a statement as to whether the land of the petitioner is acquired or not for the resettlement of the project affected persons. In that respect, she stated that a proposal was forwarded by the Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar to the Collector, Ahmednagar (LAQ Branch) way back in November 1978 for acquiring the land including the land of the petitioner situated at village Samnapur Taluka Sangamner 10 District Ahmednagar, to the extent of 2 Hectors 2 Ares and copy of the Schedule A alongwith the covering letter is produced at Exhibit­R­1. She further stated that however, it is difficult to state as to whether those lands were acquired or not by the S.L.A.O. No. 3, Jaikwadi Project, Ahmednagar, as the said office is now closed and now the entire record is handed over to the S.L.A.O. No.10 Ahmednagar. Ultimately, she stated in the said affidavit that the application of the petitioner dated 23­09­2008 would be decided which is pertaining to the deletion of the entry from 7/12 extract regarding the land Gat No. 24/1 to the extent of 2 Hectors, 2 Ares within period of three months. 14. Moreover, respondent No. 3 also filed affidavit in reply on 03­11­2009 which is sworn in by Mr. Deelip Dagadu Mahajan, working as the Special Land Acquisition Officer No. 10 Ahmednagar. He stated in the said affidavit that there is no question of taking entry to the 11 extent of 2 Hectors 2 Ares in 7/12 extract and preparation of separate 7/12 extract in the name of District Resettlement Officer as directed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer No. 3 Ahmednagar vide communication dated 12­11­2008, for the reason that there was no acquisition of that property. It is further stated in Para. 4 of the said affidavit that in view of the facts stated in the said affidavit, the impugned communication deserves to be quashed and set aside as the land of the petitioner was never acquired and therefore, there is no question of taking entry regarding Gat No. 24/1 situated at village Samnapur Taluka Sangamner District Ahmednagar to the extent 2 Hectors 2 Ares land and for preparation of separate 7/12 extract in the name of District Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar in the column of possessor. 15. We have perused the contents of the petition, annexures annexed therewith and also perused the contents of the above referred 12 affidavits filed by respondent No.5 and respondent No.3. We have also considered the submissions advanced by the learned Counsel for the parties. It is evident from Exhibit­A that the extract of Mutation Entry No. 2868, mutation entry was made on the 7/12 extract of various Gat Numbers including Gat No. 24/1 of the petitioner herein. Accordingly, it is also apparent from Exhibit­D i.e. 7/12 extract of the petitioner's land that an entry of the said charge was taken in other rights column of 7/12 extract of Gat No. 24/1. It is further seen from the communication Exhibit­E (Page 34) which was sent by the petitioner to the District Collector and the District Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar on 23­09­2008 that he requested to delete the said entry from the 7/12 extract of his land. However, in spite of the said position and in spite of the communication made by the petitioner herein, the concerned Officers did not respond and did not pay any heed to the petitioner's request and did not act in 13 accordance with the provisions of law. Hence, the petitioner was required to file present petition before this Court on 05­12­2008, wherein a categorical order was passed by this Court on 8th October 2009 and thereby respondent­authorities accordingly were directed to file a specific affidavit as to whether the land of the petitioner has been acquired or not and if acquired, as to whether compensation was paid or not. Accordingly, learned A.G.P. sought instructions from the concerned authorities and filed the affidavit of respondent No. 3 on 03­11­2009. In view of the said affidavit, more particularly statement made in Para. 4 thereof, present Writ Petition is deserves to be allowed, in terms of prayer clause­C & D thereof. 16. However, considering callous attitude of the respondents concerned, and more particularly, concerned Officers of the respondents namely Smt. Pradnya Bade ­ Misal, the District Resettlement Officer, Ahmednagar 14 and Mr. Deelip Dagdu Mahajan, the Special Land Acquisition Officer No. 10 Ahmednagar, the petitioner was required to suffer agony and was required to knock the doors of this Court by filing present petition and hence, token costs are required to be saddled upon the said concerned Officers, in view of the observations made in the case reported at 2005 S.C.C. 540, popularly known as "Salem Bar Association", and accordingly, the costs of Rs.5000/­ (Rs. Five Thousand only) each, upon the said two Officers are hereby saddled and they are directed to deposit the said costs from their own pocket on or before 16­12­2009 in this Court. After depositing the said costs, Registry is directed to make the payment of the said amount to the petitioner herein forthwith. 17. Rule is made absolute in above terms. (SHRIHARI P. DAVARE,J.) (S.B. DESHMUKH, J.) sut/DEC09/wp486.09