New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled
that the government has to mandatorily issue a "declaration"
for acquiring public land within a year after the "preliminary
notification" had been issued as otherwise the acquistion
proceedings would become illegal.
Upholding the appeal filed by Vijay Narayan Thatte and
certain other aggrieved land owners of Maharashtra, the apex
court said if the statute prescribes certain rules and
prohibitions, then the same have to be complied with.
A bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Asok Kumar
Ganguly quashed the acquistion proceedings launched by
Mahrashtra government on the ground that the declaration
proceedings as mandated under Section 6 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, was not followed by the government.
Under Section 4 of the Act, the government has to
first issue a "preliminary notification" informing the public
about its proposal to acquire the public land in question.
Thereafter, under Section 6 of the Act, the government has to
issue a separate "declaration" about its intent to acquire the
land. But under Section 6, it is clearly stated that such a
declaration must be mandatorily made within a year of the
issuance of preliminary notification.
However, in this case, the Maharashtra government
first issued the preliminary notification on August 29, 2002,
and thereafter the declaration under section 6 on October 30,
2006, more than four years after the preliminary notification.
The aggrieved land holders challenged the declaration
but the Bombay High Court rejected their plea following which
they appealed in the apex court.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 23:51