TMI Blog1972 (12) TMI 82X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... filed under arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution, by Vithal Rao, respondent *fore us, hereinafter referred to as the petitioner. The petitioner was a tenant of some fields in village Binakhi in Petwari Circle No. 10, Nagpur. He had applied to the Agricultural Lands Tribunal under a local act for fixing the purchase price of the said fields. On May 3, 1962, a notice was issued under s. 39 of the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936-hereinafter referred to as the Improvement Act. Section 39 of this Act deals with the preparation, publication and transmission of notice as to improvement schemes and supply of documents to applicants. On November 17, 1961 the Improvement Trust applied for sanction of its scheme by the Government, and on January 9, 1965, the Government sanctioned the scheme under s. 45 of the Improvement Act. On February 28, 1966 proceedings were started before the Land Acquisition Officer and on June 12, 1967 an award was passed by the Land Acquisition Officer fixing the compensation at ₹ 45,910/- for 44.19 acres of land acquired. On June, 15, 1967 the petitioner filed the writ petition under arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution. In this petition the validity ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -building scheme; (c) a re-housing scheme; (d) a street scheme; (e) a deferred street scheme (f) a development, scheme; (g) a housing accommodation scheme; (h) a future expansion or improvement scheme and (i) a drainage or drainage including sewage disposal scheme. The scheme in pursuance of which the lands in the present case were acquired was a housing accommodation scheme. Section 3,9, as stated above, provides for the issue of a notice after an improvement scheme has been, framed. Unders. 41, the Trust is obliged to serve a notice of the proposed acquisition of land on certain persons. Section 43 enables the Improvement Trust to abandon an improvement scheme after considering any objection, representation or statement of dissent received and after hearing all persons, or to apply to the State Government for sanction to 43 the scheme with such modifications, if any, as the Trust may consider necessary. The decision would be that of the Improvement Trust. Section 44 gives wide powers to the Government to sanction with or without modification or to refuse a sanction or to return for, consideration any improvement scheme submitted to it under s. 43. Under s. 45 the State Gove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n abandon an acquisition without requiring sanction of the Government. The Schedule modifies the Land Acquisition Act in various respects. The relevant modifications are these : 1. After clause (e) of section 3, the following clause shall be deemed to be inserted, namely,- (ee) the expression 'local authority' includes the Trust constituted under the Nagpur improvement Trust Act, 1936. 2. (1) The first publication of a notice of an im- provement scheme under section 39 of the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, shall be substituted for, and have the same effect as publication in the official Gazette, and in the locality of, a notification under subsection (1) of section 4, except where a declaration under section 4 or section 6 has previously been made and is still in force. (2) subject to the provisions of clauses IO and II of this Schedule, the issue of a notice under sub-section (4)of section 32 of the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, in the case of land acquired under that sub-section, and in any other case the publication of a notification under section 45 of the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, shall be substituted for, and have the same effect as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (a) the market value of the land shall be the market value according to the use to which the land was put at the date with reference to which the market-value is to be determined under that clause;................ Another advantage which is said to accrue to these persons is provided by S. 48-A, as inserted by para 14. It reads : 48-A. (1) If within a period of two years from the date of the publication of the declaration under section 6 in respect of any land, the Collector has not made an award under section 1 1 with respect to such land, the owner of the land shall, unless he has been to a material extent responsible for the delay, be entitled to receive compensation for the damage suffered by him in consequence of the delay. (2)The provisions of Part III of this Act shall apply so far as may be, to the determination of the compensation payable under this section. It would be seen that the effect of the modifications in two respe cts is tremendous. First, the owner whose land is acquired under the Improvement Act is paid compensation not according to the market value of the land but the market value according to the use to which the land was put at the date with ref ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Constitution. It is now well-settled that the State can make a reasonable classification for the purpose of legislation. It is equally wellsettled that the classification in order to be reasonable must satisfy two tests (i) the classification must be founded on intelligible differentia and (ii) the differentia must have a rational relation with the object sought to be achieved by the legislation in question. In this connection it must be borne in mind that the object itself should be lawful. The object itself cannot be discriminatory, for otherwise, for instance, if the object is to discriminate against one section of the minority the discrimination cannot be justified on the ground that there is a reasonable classification because it has rational relation to the, object sought to be achieved. What can be reasonable classification for the purpose of determining compensation, if the object of the legislation is to compulsorily acquire land for public purposes ? It would not be disputed that different principles of compensation cannot be formulated for lands acquired on the basis that the owner is. old or-young, healthy or ill, tall or short, or whether the owner has inherited the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to be accepted it would be totally destructive of the protection given by Art. 14. It would enable the State to have, one law for acquiring lands for hospital, one law for acquiring lands for schools, one law acquiring lands for clearing slums, anoth er for acquiring lands for Government buildings; one for acquiring lands in New Delhi and another for acquiring lands in old Delhi. It was said that in many cases, the value of the land has increased not because of any effort by the owner but because of the general development of the city in which the land is situated. There is no doubt that this is so, but Art. 14 prohibits the expropriation of the un- earned increment of one owner while leaving his neighbour untouched. This neighbour could sell his land reap the unearned increment.. If the object of the legislation is to tax unearned increment it should be done throughout the State. The State cannot achieve this object piece-meat by compulsory acquisition of land of some owners leaving others alone. If the object is to clear slums it cannot be done at the expense of the owners whose lands are acquired, unless as we have said the owner are directly benefited by the scheme. If the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... C.R. 614. -L631 Supreme Court/73 ences between persons and properties have a reasonable relation to the object sought to be achieved and it is totally a different thing to say that the object of the Act itself created the differences. Assuming that the said proposition is sound, we cannot discover any differences in the people owning lands or in the lands on the basis of the object. The object is to acquire lands for housing schemes at a low price. For achieving that object, any land falling in any of the said categories can be acquired under the Amending Act. So, too, for a public purpose any such land can be acquired under the principal Act. We, therefore, hold that discrimination is writ large on the Amending Act and it cannot be sustained on the principal of reasonable classification. We, therefore, hold that the Amending Act clearly infringes Art. 14 of the Constitution and is void . In Balammal Ors. v. State of Madras(1) in which the facts are substantially similar, the Board constituted under the Madras City Improvement Trust Act, (Madras Act 16 of 1945) was authorised by virtue of sec. 71, with the previous sanction of the Government, to acquire land under the provisio ..... 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