TMI Blog2007 (3) TMI 734X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gether and are decided by this common judgment. Facts necessary to understand and comprehend the controversy involved in these cases are briefly stated as under:- The appellants are the owners/bhoomidars of different parcels of lands in village Dantal, District Meerut, Uttar Pradesh [for short U.P. ]. As per the Zonal Development Plan, the lands of the appellants fall under Zone-IV. On 11.06.1985, the State of U.P. issued a Notification under Section 4 of the Act proposing to acquire 168 bighas of land including the land of the appellants for construction of residential/commercial buildings by the Meerut Development Authority (MDA) respondent No.3 herein under a Planned Development Scheme. Declaration under Section 6 of the Act was published in the Official Gazette on 13.6.1985. On 19.7.1985, Notification under Section 4 of the Act was published in the local newspapers and Declaration under Section 6 of the Act was published in the newspapers on 25.07.1985. The substance of both the Notifications was published in the local newspapers on 25.07.1985. The provisions of Section 17(1) of the Act were also invoked and enquiry under Section 5-A has been dispensed with. The appell ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of two years. The respondents notified the making of the Award by the Land Acquisition Officer in Dainik Jagran (a Hindi daily newspaper). The appellants filed Civil Writ Petitions in the year 1998 in the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad challenging the Award inter alia on the grounds that the Award was made by the Land Acquisition Officer after the statutory period as contemplated under Section 11A of the Act. The High Court granted stay of the declaration under Section 6 of the Act. Finally, the Division Bench dismissed the writ petitions by holding that the Award marked as Annexure-4, specifically referred to 13.08.1985, the date of publication of declaration under Section 6 of the Act and accepting the said date as the last date of publication and the fact that stay was operating since 02.08.1985 till 19.09.1996, the Award dated 18.09.1998 was held having been made within the period of limitation as envisaged by Section 11A of the Act and as such the proceedings initiated for acquisition would not lapse. The appellants were directed to handover the possession of the acquired land within three months from the date of the order. The order of the High Court would reveal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or the appellants vehemently contended that in terms of Section 11A of the Act, it is mandatory to make an Award within two years from 25.07.1985, the date of the publication of the declaration under Section 6 of the Act. Admittedly, the Award was made on 18.09.1998 and as such, according to the learned counsel, the acquisition proceedings have become null and void. He urged that the High Court has failed to appreciate the import of the mandatory provisions of Section 6 of the Act in proper perspective and therefore, the order impugned in these appeals deserves to be set aside. Per contra, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State of U. P. and MDA contended that the High Court was right in holding that the substance of the declaration under Section 6(2) was published in the locality on 13.08.1985 and after excluding the period between 02.08.1985 till 19.09.1996 in terms of Explanation to Section 11A of the Act, when the land acquisition proceedings remained pending in the High Court of Allahabad and later on till Civil Appeal No.1828 of 1988 and connected matters came to be finally decided by this Court on 19.09.1996. In order to appreciate the rival contentions of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion is stayed by an order of a Court shall be excluded. Section 6(2), on a plain reading, deals with the various modes of publication and they are: (a) publication in the Official Gazette, (b) publication in two daily newspapers circulating in the locality in which the land is situate of which at least one shall be in the regional language and (c) causing public notice of the substance of such declaration to be given at convenient places in the said locality. There is no option left with anyone to give up or waive any mode and all such modes have to be strictly resorted to. The principle is well settled that where any statutory provision provides a particular manner for doing a particular act, then, that thing or act must be done in accordance with the manner prescribed therefor in the Act. The provisions of Section 11A are intended to benefit the land owner and ensure that the Award is made within a period of two years from the date of the declaration under Section 6. In ordinary course, therefore, when the Government fails to make an Award within two years of the declaration under Section 6, the land has still not vested in the Government and its title remains with the owne ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is for a different purpose, inter alia, for reckoning the limitation prescribed under Section 11A 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 11A. The language employed in second proviso to Section 6(1) also supports this construction. That apart, the words the last of the dates of such publication and the giving of such public notice being hereinafter referred to as the date of the publication of the declaration leave no room for any assumptions to the contrary. Thus, the view taken by the High Court in these cases not only runs counter to the mandate of law enacted by Parliament, but is opposed to the dicta of this Court. We have gone through the judgment of the High Court of Allahabad dated 14.01.1988 passed in Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No.10551 of 1985 and other connected petitions earlier filed by the appellants and other owners of the land. In those cases, the High Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .85 at 3 p.m. and intimation of which has been given today 13.8.85 in village Dantal to all concerned farmer and residents of village by beat of drums and in loud voice that notification had been published on 19.7.85, 25.7.1985 in daily newspapers, Meerut Samachar , Janta Express and Hamara Yug and Government Gazette. Since the land has been acquired for the residential scheme of the Meerut Development Authority, no farmer should change the nature of rights in the land and the possession of acquired land will be taken on 16.3.85. This notice appears to have been signed by marginal witnesses Har Pal Singh, Sudhir Kumar and Yash Vir Singh and thumb mark by Chhote on 13.08.1985. The language employed in this notice would not prove that it was the last mode of publication referred to in Section 6(2) of the Act. In substance, this notice appears to have been issued in purporting exercise of power under Section 9 of the Act for taking possession of the acquired land on 16.08.1985. Thus, this Notification, in no circumstances, would prove that it was the last mode of publication referred to in Section 6(2) of the Act. This Court in General Manager, Department of Telecommunicati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ficers should not comply with the requirement of law. It is their duty to do it. In the light of the settled principles of law in Eugenio Misquita Ors. (supra), General Manager, Department of Telecommunications, Thiruvananthapuram (supra) and Bihar State Housing Board (supra), the entire acquisition proceedings for acquiring the land of the appellants culminating in the Award made on 19.09.1998 after the period contemplated in Section 11A of the Act shall elapse completely. The High Court was not correct and justified in holding that the last date of publication of the declaration under Section 6 was 13.8.1985 and not 25.07.1985. In the earlier civil writ petitions, the same High Court has accepted 25.07.1985 as the date of declaration under Section 6 of the Act. No other point was urged by the parties. For all the reasons stated above, the impugned judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad cannot be sustained. The Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition Nos. 31681, 32856 and 32857 of 1998 filed by the appellants before the High Court shall stand allowed. These appeals are allowed with costs. However, we make it clear that if the responden ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order of the High Court. In the special leave petition out of which Civil Appeal No. 6099 of 2001 arises, the above- said interim order was passed by this Court. The grievance of the appellants in this contempt petition is that the MDA has encroached upon 10 biswas of land in Plot No. 84, therefore, the original appellant submitted representation dated 05.11.2003 requesting the MDA to get Plot No. 84 demarcated on the spot. The lower staff of MDA, for obvious reasons, wanted to encroach upon another Plot No. 94 owned by the appellants. The appellants submitted that second representation was made on 9.02.2004 to the Commissioner, MDA, requesting the MDA to remove its encroachment on 10 biswas of land of Plot No. 84 and no further encroachment should be made by the Authority on Plot No. 94. In response to the representations of the appellants, Officer on Special Duty, MDA, vide letter dated 21.05.2004 informed the original appellant that because of the operation of the status quo order passed by this Court in S.L.P. (C) No. 8331/2000, it was not possible for the party to get the demarcation done on Plot No. 84 measuring 3-16-5 bighas. The appellants alleged that the District Magistr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e deponent submitted that he has not committed any contempt of the orders of this Court, still he has tendered unqualified apology for any inconvenience caused to this Court. Shri Anoop Sharma, Assistant Engineer and Shri Girija Shankar Mall, Junior Engineer of MDA, have filed their separate counter affidavits. They have stated that the MDA has not at all disturbed the status quo order passed by this Court in regard to the Plot Nos./Khasra Nos. 84 and 94 as alleged by the appellants. Their stand is that it was only in respect of Plot No. 88 where development works were carried on as the said area was out of the purview of the orders of any court. The allegations of wilful disobedience of the status quo order passed by this Court are categorically denied by them. However, both the officials have tendered an unconditional apology. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having scrutinized in detail the counter affidavits of the respondents, we are of the view that there is nothing before us to show that the respondents have wilfully flouted or intentionally violated the status quo order dated 10.07.2000 and 28.08.2001 passed by this Court. Therefore, it is not a fi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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