TMI Blog1960 (8) TMI 90X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re likely to be needed for the purposes of the third respondent, Messrs. Mukund Iron Steel Works Ltd... a company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, and having its registered office at Kurla, Bombay No. 37, in the State of Maharashtra, for its factory buildings etc. The notification further stated that under cl. (c) of s. 3 of the Act, the Government was pleased to appoint the Special Land Acquisition Officer, the second respondent, to perform the functions of the Collector under s. 5A of the said Act. The land in which the petitioner, who is a citizen of India, claims to be interested as owner is included in the schedule aforesaid. The petitioner appeared before the second respondent aforesaid and after several adjournments lodged objections on June 9, 1959 and also made oral submissions through his Advocate on that date and the day following, and requested the second respondent to quash the proceedings on the ground that the lands contained in the notification were not required for any public purpose and that the proceedings were vexatious and malicious. It was further stated before the second respondent that the third respondent had negotiated by private treaty f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted in the production of this Company, the chief products being steel bars and rods which are in great public demand and are of such vital necessity to the country that their very production, distribution, supply and price are controlled by the Government. The products of the Company are consumed directly in bulk for public utility projects like dams, hydroelectric projects, roads, railways, industrial plants and housing projects, both in the public and private sectors, which constitute the core of the several five year plans of the Government. It is further stated that the Company (respondent No. 3) has included in its proposed industrial expansion projects to be established on the land sought to be acquired, extensive provisions for housing for a large number of employees' families as also for their welfare by providing for parks, gardens, playgrounds, medical relief centre and similar other amenities for the welfare of the employees and their families. All those projects, it is claimed on behalf of the third respondent, are a highly commendable public purpose which is far more advantageous to the community in general than to shareholders of the Company. It is further sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion of Arts. 14, 19 and 31 of the Constitution and that the acquisition is not for a public purpose and is mala fide. In order to determine the present controversy, it will be convenient, at this stage, to examine the relevant provisions of the Act. The Act has the following preamble:- Whereas it is expedient to amend the law for the acquisition of land needed for public purposes and for Companies and for determining the amount of compensation to be made on account of such acquisition ;......... In the definition section 3, the definitions of Company and public purpose are particularly noteworthy. The expression Company has been used in a very comprehensive sense of including not only the Companies registered under several statutes, Indian and English, but also includes a society registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 and a registered society within the meaning of the Co-operative Societies Act. The expression public purpose' includes the provision of village sites in districts in which the appropriate Government shall have declared by notification in the official gazette that it is customary for the Government to make such provision. It wil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... given to the parties concerned to claim compensation in respect of any interest in the land in question ; and the award after making the necessary investigation as to claims to conflicting title, the compensation to be allowed in respect of the land, and, if necessary, apportionment of the amount of compensation amongst the persons believed to be interested in the land under acquisition. We are not concerned here with the proceedings that follow upon the award of the Collector and the matters to be agitated therein. From the preamble as also from the provisions of ss. 5A, 6 and 7, it is obvious that the Act makes a clear distinction between acquisition of land needed for a public purpose and that for a Company, as if land needed for a Company is not also for a public purpose. The Act has gone further and has devoted Part VII to acquisition of land for Companies and in sub-s. (2) s. of 38, with which Part VII begins, provides that in the case of an acquisition for a Company, for the words for such purpose the words for purposes of the Company shall be deemed to have been substituted. It has been laid down by s. 39 that the machinery of the Land Acquisition Act, beginning ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1(5)(a) as an existing law. (See Lilavati Bai v. State of Bombay ([1957] S.C.R. 721.)). Further, though it may appear on the words of the Act contained in Part 11, which contains the operative portions of the proceedings leading up to acquisition by the Collector that acquisition for a Company may or may not be for a public purpose, the provisions of Part VII make it clear that the appropriate Government cannot permit the bringing into operation the effective machinery of the Act unless it is satisfied as aforesaid, namely, that the purpose of acquisition is to enable the Company to erect dwelling houses for workmen employed by it or for the provision of amenities directly connected with the Company or that the land is needed for construction of some work of public utility. These require- ments indicate that the acquisition for a Company also is in substance for a public purpose inasmuch as it cannot be seriously contended that constructing dwelling houses, and providing amenities for the benefit of the workmen employed by it and construction of some work of public utility do not serve a public purpose. It is not necessary for the purposes of this case to go into the question wheth ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted, Bombay. It is hereby notified under the provisions of section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (I of 1894), that the said lands are likely to be needed for the purpose specified above. All persons interested in the said lands are hereby warned not to obstructor interfere with any surveyors or other persons employed upon the said lands for the purpose of the said acquisition. Any contracts for the disposal of the said lands by sale, lease, mortgage, assignment, exchange or otherwise, or any outlay or improvements made therein, without the sanction of the Collector after the date of this notification will, under section 24 (seventhly) of the said Act, be disregarded by the officer assessing compensation for such parts of the said lands as may be finally acquired. If the Government of Bombay is satisfied that the said lands are needed for the aforesaid purpose, a final notification to that effect under s. 6 of the said Act will be published in the Bombay Government Gazette in due course. If the acquisition is abandoned wholly or in part, the fact will be duly notified in the Bombay Government Gazette. Under clause (c) of section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the G ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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