IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.10103 of 2011 Date of decision: 01.06.2011 Gurnam Singh and others …..Petitioners versus State of Punjab and others ……Respondents CORAM: Hon’ble Mr.Justice Jasbir Singh Hon’ble Mr.Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg Present: Mr.D.S.Pheruman, Advocate for the petitioners Jasbir Singh, J. (Oral) Petitioners are residents of village Sichander, tehsil and district Amritsar. They have laid challenge to a notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (in short, the Act) on 19.5.2010, proposing to acquire a vast tract of land, including 75 kanal of land owned by the Gram Panchayat. (Incidentally, the Gram Panchayat is not a party in this writ petition). Further challenge has been made to a notification issued under Section 6 of the Act, finally ordering acquisition of that land. Still further, an award passed on 24.2.2011 is also under challenge. It is contention of counsel for the petitioners that they being co- sharers in the land in dispute, which was reserved for the Gram Panchayat at the time of consolidation proceedings, are interested to save that land so that in future, it will continue to be used for development of the village. At the time of arguments, it was frankly admitted by the petitioners that when Civil Writ Petition No.10103 of 2011 notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued, they did not file any objection under Section 5-A of the Act. As per document on record, the land is shown in the name of the Gram Panchayat and not reserved for any specific common purpose of the village. Further at the time of arguments, it was brought to our notice that the Gram Panchayat, by passing a resolution on 26.1.2010, consented to the acquisition of that land. That resolution is also not under challenge. It is contention of counsel for the petitioners that a grave loss will be caused to the villagers because once land stood acquired, income will not be available with the Gram Panchayat to undertake development activities in the village. We are not inclined to accept that argument. As is evident from the award, the Gram Panchayat is likely to get more than Rs.8 crore of compensation amount in lieu of the land under acquisition. If the said amount is put in a fixed deposit, the income to be derived, will be much more than the income which the Gram Panchayat might be getting at present, may be by leasing out the land in dispute. The petitioners may take up the matter with the officers of the Panchayat Department, so that amount of compensation remains secure with the Gram Panchayat and be used for development purposes only. No case is made out for interference. Dismissed. (Jasbir Singh) Judge 01.06.2011 (Rakesh Kumar Garg) gk Judge 2