Case: The Chairman &amp; Mng.Dir., Tnhb  Vs. S. Saraswathy

of 1998, his legal representatives do not have the locus to contend that the order dated 21-8-1990 passed by this Court in SLPs (C) Nos. 11353-55 of 1988 had the effect of nullifying the entire acquisition." 11. We are respectfully in accord with the observations of Coordinate Benches that unless the Declaration under Section 6 or the Notification under Section 4 of the Act is not explicitly quashed in toto or in its wholeness by the Court, the benefits of relief granted by the Court would be effective only qua the parties before it. As already adumbrated above, at the time the Appeal of A. S. Naidu came to be decided, the three year limitation period to publish a declaration under Section 6 of the Act had already expired, making it impossible for the Government to complete a fresh process culminating in another declaration; and it was for this reason that the acquisition was quashed by the Court.12. It has been repeatedly reiterated by this Court that those who have missed the boat in challenging the acquisition proceedings, who sat idle and have let the grass grow under their feet cannot, thereafter, be permitted to jump on the bandwagon of others who entered the portals of the Court at the appropriate time and thereafter obtained favourable orders. Significantly, in Chandrasekaran the Court was alive to the reality of utilization of large chunks of land by the State for housing scheme; and in this scenario, it was obviously and rightly reluctant and facially hesitant to quash the acquisition proceedings in toto, knowing that that would result in grave consequences to society. In this analysis, the Respondents including their vendor, P. Velu, cannot be permitted to take any advantage of the Orders passed by this Court in A. S. Naidu. 13. There could be cases however, where the acquisition proceedings are deracinated, annulled and quashed in toto. Such grounds could include, to wit: absence of public purpose; non publication of the substance of the notification under Section 4 as required, denuding the rights of the landowners; complete lack of consideration of the objections by the authorities, thus obscuring the public purpose; fraudulent or mala fide or colourable exercise of the power of eminent domain behind the smokescreen of public purpose; inherent defect or illegality in the issuance of the notification under Section 4; acquiring of land for a private company by illegally bypassing the extant statutory procedure etc. 14. Even if we assume that the Order passed by this Court swept away the entire acquisition proceedings, the claim of the Respondents is still unsustainable. In the Judgment dated 08.01.1988 passed by the High Court in the case of A. S. Naidu, it has been clarified that “only those persons, who are the owners on the date of Section 4(1) Notification alone can question the validity of the acquisition…when the property was already notified for acquisition, if the petitioners had come to purchase the property, they cannot have any right to agitate with regard to procedural violation.” There is thus no confusion that the relief of quashing of the Declaration under Section 6 of the Act was expressly limited to some while being plainly denied to others, signifying thereby, that the Declaration under Section 6 was left untouched in the other cases. In A. S. Naidu, this Court annulled the Notification issued under Section 4 on the premises of limitation. This would mean that the rest of the acquisition proceedings was left untouched by this Court in A. S. Naidu.15. The second factor, detaching the case of the contesting Respondents even farther, is that since the Respondents had purchased the suit land after the Award had been passed and possession of the land had been taken by the State, they could not have acquired any rights against the State. P. Velu did not bring down the acquisition proceedings qua his land, but on the contrary, by accepting compensation, had manifested his acceptance of the Award. In these circumstances, once the land stood vested in the State under Section 16 of the Act, P. Velu and his vendees, namely the Respondents, could not have created and engineered rights or interests in the property against the State, except the right of seeking and receiving enhanced compensation. We are mindful that the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as applicable to the State of Tamil Nadu does not specifically preclude the land owners from entering into sale transactions during an ongoing acquisition proceeding. But as long as the acquisition proceedings are not invalidated, any agreement creating or altering or extinguishing rights with respect to the land under acquisition will not be effective or efficacious against the State. 16. As we have noted above, the additional case of the Respondents is that A. S. Naidu, as a co-owner or even otherwise, had challenged the acquisition proceedings qua the entire Survey No. 271 on behalf of himself and P. Velu also. We are sorry to record that we have found not a grain of evidence supporting their specious claim. The cases of A. Viswanatha Pillai v. The Special Tahsildar for Land Acquisition No. IV (1991) 4 SCC 17 and Jalandhar Improvement Trust v. State of Punjab (2003) 1 SCC 526 relied upon by them in this context, where reliefs were granted to the co-owners, are distinguishable from the facts obtaining in the instant case. The Respondents or even P. Velu cannot assert to be co-owner with A. S. Naidu merely because they happened to own plots in the larger or main Survey No. 271 in the backdrop of that Survey having been fractured into smaller Survey numbers, or even because an approved layout plan had been granted of the larger Survey number. Nor do we think that owning a plot in the same survey number ipso facto authorizes A.S. Naidu to litigate on behalf of P. Velu also. The writ petition of A. S. Naidu is also conspicuous in that it does not lay any claim to represent P. Velu.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]11. We are respectfully in accord with the observations of Coordinate Benches that unless the Declaration under Section 6 or the Notification under Section 4 of the Act is not explicitly quashed in toto or in its wholeness by the Court, the benefits of relief granted by the Court would be effective only qua the parties before it. As already adumbrated above, at the time the Appeal of A. S. Naidu came to be decided, the three year limitation period to publish a declaration under Section 6 of the Act had already expired, making it impossible for the Government to complete a fresh process culminating in another declaration; and it was for this reason that the acquisition was quashed by the Court.12. It has been repeatedly reiterated by this Court that those who have missed the boat in challenging the acquisition proceedings, who sat idle and have let the grass grow under their feet cannot, thereafter, be permitted to jump on the bandwagon of others who entered the portals of the Court at the appropriate time and thereafter obtained favourable orders. Significantly, in Chandrasekaran the Court was alive to the reality of utilization of large chunks of land by the State for housing scheme; and in this scenario, it was obviously and rightly reluctant and facially hesitant to quash the acquisition proceedings in toto, knowing that that would result in grave consequences to society. In this analysis, the Respondents including their vendor, P. Velu, cannot be permitted to take any advantage of the Orders passed by this Court in A. S. Naidu.Even if we assume that the Order passed by this Court swept away the entire acquisition proceedings, the claim of the Respondents is still unsustainable. In the Judgment dated 08.01.1988 passed by the High Court in the case of A. S. Naidu, it has been clarified thatthose persons, who are the owners on the date of Section 4(1) Notification alone can question the validity of the acquisition…when the property was already notified for acquisition, if the petitioners had come to purchase the property, they cannot have any right to agitate with regard to proceduralThere is thus no confusion that the relief of quashing of the Declaration under Section 6 of the Act was expressly limited to some while being plainly denied to others, signifying thereby, that the Declaration under Section 6 was left untouched in the other cases. In A. S. Naidu, this Court annulled the Notification issued under Section 4 on the premises of limitation. This would mean that the rest of the acquisition proceedings was left untouched by this Court in A. S. Naidu.15. The second factor, detaching the case of the contesting Respondents even farther, is that since the Respondents had purchased the suit land after the Award had been passed and possession of the land had been taken by the State, they could not have acquired any rights against the State. P. Velu did not bring down the acquisition proceedings qua his land, but on the contrary, by accepting compensation, had manifested his acceptance of the Award. In these circumstances, once the land stood vested in the State under Section 16 of the Act, P. Velu and his vendees, namely the Respondents, could not have created and engineered rights or interests in the property against the State, except the right of seeking and receiving enhanced compensation. We are mindful that the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 as applicable to the State of Tamil Nadu does not specifically preclude the land owners from entering into sale transactions during an ongoing acquisition proceeding. But as long as the acquisition proceedings are not invalidated, any agreement creating or altering or extinguishing rights with respect to the land under acquisition will not be effective or efficacious against theRespondents or even P. Velu cannot assert to bewith A. S. Naidu merely because they happened to own plots in the larger or main Survey No. 271 in the backdrop of that Survey having been fractured into smaller Survey numbers, or even because an approved layout plan had been granted of the larger Survey number. Nor do we think that owning a plot in the same survey number ipso facto authorizes A.S. Naidu to litigate on behalf of P. Velu also. The writ petition of A. S. Naidu is also conspicuous in that it does not lay any claim to represent P. Velu.