Case: Eugenio Misquita &amp; Others Vs. State of Goa &amp; Others

To appreciate the above question, certain dates are necessary. Initially a Notification under Section 4(1) of the Act for acquiring land for construction and black topping of St. Sebastian Chapel Road was published on 8.11.90. That Notification lapsed as no declaration as required under Section 6 of the Act as amended by Act 68 of 1984 was made. Therefore, a fresh Notification was made under Section 4(1) of the Act for the same purpose on 23.6.92. The said Notification under Section 4(1) was first published in the English daily "O Heraldo" on 29.6.92, and in the Marathi daily "Nav Prabha" on 2.7.92. Public Notice in the locality of the Notification was given on 8.7.92 as required under Section 4 of the Act. Lastly, it was published in the Official Gazette of the Goa Government on 6.8.;92. Immediately the validity of the said Notification was challenged in Writ Petition No.436/92 as "urgency provision" under Section 17(4) of the Act was also invoked. The High Court allowed the Writ Petition on 25.11.92 by directing the appellants ( writ petitioners before High Court) to file their objections under Section 5A on or before 4.12.92 and directing the respondents to decide the said objections on or before 18.12.92 after hearing the aggrieved parties. After complying with the directions of the High Court, a declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made on 3.8.93 and it was published in the Official Gazette on 5.8.93. The same declaration was published in Marathi daily "Gomantak" on 6.8.93 and in the English daily "Navhind Times" on 7.8.93 respectively. Public Notice of the declaration was given in the locality on 28.8.93. Under these circumstances, the appellants challenged the validity of the declaration under Section 6 on the ground that the publication of the declaration was beyond one year taking 28.8.93 as the date of publication and, therefore, the acquisition proceedings had lapsed.The contention advanced on behalf of the appellants before the High Court was that on a correct understanding and interpretation of Section 6(1) &(2), of the Act, the declaration must be taken to have been made/published for the purpose of proviso to Section 6(a)(ii) on the date on which the last in the series of publications under Section 6(2) was published. In this case, it was in 28.8.93. If so understood on the facts of this case, according to the appellants, the declaration having been published in the locality on 28.8.93 it was beyond one year prescribed under proviso to Section 6(1)(ii) of the Act. Therefore, that declaration was barred by limitation. On the other hand, it was contended before the High Court on behalf of the authorities that under Section 6(1) the relevant date for the purpose of limitation was the date on which the declaration was made and that declaration having been made on 3.8.93 was well within one year from the date of Notification published under Section 4(1), namely, on 6.8.92. The High Court in the light of the earlier Division Bench judgment of the same Court held asthe ratio of these two decisions, it is clear that Section 4 Notification was published in Government Gazette on 6th August 1992 and in fact that was the last of such publications. 3rd August 1993 and it is common ground that it was published in the Government Gazette on 5th August 1993. It is, therefore, clear that regard being had to the date of making of the declaration under Section 6, which is 3rd August 1993, it falls within the limitation prescribed and, therefore, it cannot be held that the publication of the declaration is outside the limitation prescribed under the Act." *

Reasoning: It is now well settled that the last of the dates in the series of the publications made under Section 4 (1) of the Act is the relevant date to reckon the starting point of limitation for the purpose of proviso to Section 6(1) (ii). Now, the question is which is the relevant date to reckon the last date for the purpose of proviso to Section (1) (ii). In other words, whetherthe modes of publication prescribed under Section 6(2) obviously for the purpose of reckoning limitation under Section 11-A of the Act have any part to play in the matter of computing the period prescribed under proviso to Sectionseen from the above extracts of relevant provisions, while Section 4(1) commands publication of notification under that Section. Section 6 speaks of the declaration being made to the effect that any particular land is needed for public purpose or for a company. There are judicial decisions that have interpreted the word `made to mean `published for the reasons stated in those decisions. Therefore, strictly speaking, but for those decisions. Therefore, strictly speaking, but for those judicial decisions the date of making of the declaration under Section 6(1) will be the relevant date for reckoning the period of limitation. However, in the interest of general public, the courts have taken the view that the declaration made will stand accomplished only when it is published. This publication has, therefore, nothing to do with the publication referred to in Section 6(2) of the Act which is for a different purpose, inter alia, for reckoning the limitation prescribed under Section 11-A of the Act. This construction is supported by the language employed in Section 6(2) of the Act. In particular, the word "hereinafter" used in Section 6(2) will amply prove that the last of the series of the publication referred to under Section 6(2) is relevant for the purposes coming thereafter, namely, for making award under Section 11-A. The language employed in second proviso to Section 6 (1) also supports this construction. Therefore, the contention of learned counsel cannot belearned Judge of the Rajasthan High Court is right to a limited extent when he observed: `the conclusion is irresistible that the act of `making declaration by the appropriate Government that any particular land is needed for public purpose, include the act of making it known public, in official manner and, that act has to be performed within a period of one year from the date of notification under S.4(1)." However, the learned Judge erred in holding thus: "It is only after the publication of the declaration in the manner prescribed under S.6(2) that it becomes a declaration which is conclusive proof of the fact that the land is needed for public purpose and it is only "making of such declaration", which furnishes conclusive proof of such satisfaction", because there is nothing in the Statute to suggest by publishing in the Official Gazette the `making of declaration has not been achieved nor is there anything in the Statute to show that the modes of publications prescribed under Section 6(2) notwithstanding the express language used in that Section about which we have already pointed out, namely, `hereinafter those modes also govern the publication at the prior stage, namely, under Sectionwe hold that the judgment of the Rajasthan High Court does not correctly lay down theabove view of this Court lends support to the view that for the purpose of calculating the limitation prescribed under proviso to Section 6(1)(ii), it is not the last of the publication in the series that should be taken into account, but the publication that was made in the first instance under Sectionthe light of the law laid down by this Court, we have no hesitation to hold that the declaration published under Section 6 of the Act was well within one year and the challenge to the same has been rightly rejected by the High Court. However, the view taken in the judgment of the High Court under appeal that the relevant date for reckoning the period of limitation will be the date of making of the declaration under Section 6, may not be correct. As held in Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samitis case, mere making of declaration is not enough. The making of declaration under Section 6 is complete for the purpose of Proviso to Section 6(1)(i) &ii) when it is published in the official gazette.On facts we have seen that the Notification was lastly published on 6.8.92 in the Official Gazette and declaration under Section 6 was published in the Gazette on 5.8.93 which is well within one year.