TMI Blog2010 (9) TMI 1251X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty of Section 23(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952 was also assailed by them on several grounds which failed to find favour with the High Court who upheld not only the constitutional validity of the impugned enactments but also the notification issued under the Land Acquisition Act. The present appeals assail the correctness of the view taken by the High Court. 3. The facts giving rise to the controversy have been set out at length by the High Court in the lead judgment under challenge delivered in C.W.P. No. 9060 of 2005. The same need not, therefore, be set out again except to the extent it is absolutely necessary to do so. Suffice it to say that the writ petitioners-appellants before us are expropriated owners of different parcels of land situate in Village Chilla, Tehsil Mohali, District Ropar, in the State of Punjab an upcoming township situate on the outskirts of the city of Chandigarh, which has over the years seen rapid growth as a residential and urban estate. In the first phase of the expansion of the township sectors 53 to 75 were taken up for development under the provisions of Punjab Urban Estate (Development a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation of the 1995 Act, which development could be carried out by, if necessary exempting the area required for such development from the provision of the said Act. Exercise of the power of exemption under Section 178(2) of the 1995 Act was therefore held to be perfectly justified. The correctness of the view taken by the High Court was challenged by the writ petitioners before this Court but unsuccessfully. 6. Acquisition proceedings for development of sectors 81, 88 and 89 which comprised the third phase of the development were then initiated by the Collector, Land Acquisition, Mohali. While 417.39 acres of land was acquired in sector 81, an area of 688.89 acres of land was acquired in sectors 88 and 89. A declaration under Section 6 in relation to the said extent of land was also issued on 18.1.2005. To ensure that the acquisition process is free from any impediments the Government once again invoked the provisions of Section 178(2) of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 in regard to the land notified for development of sectors 81, 88 and 89. A notification dated 10th February, 2004 issued in that regard exempted the land falling in the said sectors ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... chnology (INST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi. An area measuring 35 acres has been allotted to National Agro Bio Technology Institute (NABI) under the Department of Science Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi. For Bio-Processing Unit under the Department of Science Technology, Govt. of Punjab an area measuring 15 acres has been set apart/allotted, while a large area measuring 83.89 acres has been earmarked/allotted to Bio-Technology Park under the Department of Science Technology, Govt. of Punjab. Similarly an area measuring 70 acres has been allotted to Indian School of Business under the Department of Higher Education, Govt. of Punjab. 10. Appearing for the appellants Mr. Gupta learned senior counsel made a three-fold submission before us. Firstly, he contended that acquisition of land in terms of the impugned notifications was illegal in as much as the provisions of Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 had not been complied with before issuing the said notifications. He argued that although a notification under Section 56(5) of the Act is stated to have been issued on 6th March, 2001 the same was not suf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd Acquisition Act nor was any such point raised before the Writ Court or before this Court for that matter. It was submitted that the notification under Section 56(5) of the Act had been issued after following the prescribed procedure which included consideration of the objections received from different quarters to the declaration of Mohali as a 'Local Planning Area'. He urged that the petitioner/appellants had not assailed the validity of the said notification and cannot now be allowed to do so at this belated stage. So also the validity of the notification issued under Section 178(2) of the Act aforementioned was not challenged in the writ petition filed by the appellants. Any attempt to challenge the validity of the said notification at this stage was, therefore, futile. 14. The absence of a challenge apart from the notification did not, according to Mr. Subramaniam, even otherwise suffer from any legal infirmity. The Government having applied its mind to the question of exemption of the area from the provisions of the 1995 Act was fully justified in issuing the exemption notification for good and valid reasons enumerated therein. A similar notification issued in re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 17. We shall deal with the questions ad seriatim. Re: Question No. 1 18. We may before dealing with this question on its merits, point out that notification dated 10th February, 2004 granting exemption was never challenged in the writ petitions filed by the appellants. There is no foundation laid in the petitions by the appellants for them to contend that the exemption notification was vitiated either because of lack of authority or misdirection by the Government in exercise of its power under Section 178(2) of the Town Planning Development Act 1995. The High Court has noticed this aspect in the following paragraph of its judgment: Still further, since the factual situation with regard to the issuance of the notification under Section 178 of the 1995 Act granting exemption from the application of provisions of the 1995 Act is admitted by the petitioners it is not open to them to challenge the acquisition on the ground that there is violation of the 1995 Act, without at least laying challenge to the notification granting exemption. 19. In the light of the above we find it difficult to appreciate how the issue regarding the validity of the exemption granted by the Gov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... obtaining approval of the competent authority. A preliminary Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act proposed an area of 417.39 acres in sector 81 and 688.89 acres in sectors 88 and 89 for acquisition. 23. The exemption notification goes on to state that acquisition of land for sectors 76 to 80 started by the Government was challenged by the landowners mainly on the ground that the provisions of the Town Planning Development Act, 1995 were not complied with. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana had in these petitions stayed the dispossession of the owners while granting liberty to the respondents to proceed with the matter subject to the final orders of the Court. The notification finally makes a reference to the fact that Mohali has recorded the highest rate of growth of population of Class I cities giving rise to considerable increase in the demand for housing, in turn giving rise to haphazard development in the area if planned development of the sectors in question is not immediately taken up and plots made available to the allottees. The Government was, in the above backdrop, of the opinion that it was expedient to exempt the areas falling in sectors 81, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... haphazard mushrooming of housing colonies and commercial establishments in the area. Delay in the finalization of the outline Master Plan, comprehensive master plan and a town planning scheme thus had the potential of frustrating the very purpose underlying the legislation that is aimed at better planning, regulation, development and use of land in the planning areas. The Government was in that view well within its power to evaluate the options available to it, making a choice and taking appropriate action to prevent any such disorganized and haphazard development. In as much as the Government did so and decided to invoke its powers under Section 178(2) of the Act, it committed no illegality. On the contrary, the Government has by taking timely action prevented a situation where the area around the township of Mohali would have on account of tremendous pressure for conversion of land to non-agricultural use developed into a large slum as is the bane of many other cities in the country where statutory authorities charged with duties of urban development have failed to keep pace with the housing needs of the populace. It is noteworthy that the Government had prevented such haphazard ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... motive or consideration. The term 'expedient' appearing in Section 178 of the Act has not been defined. Black's Law Dictionary, however, assigns the expression 'expedient' the following meaning: Appropriate and suitable to the end in view -Whatever is suitable and appropriate in reasons for the accomplishment of a specified object. 29. The term 'expedient' has fallen for interpretation before this Court in several cases. In the State of Gujarat v. Jamnadas G. Pabri and Ors. (1975) 1 SCC 138 this Court was interpreting the provisions of Section 303A of the Panchayats Act as amended by Gujarat Panchayats (Amendment) Act 8 of 1974. The question was whether satisfaction of the State Government as to the expediency of holding elections for the reconstitution of a Panchayat was amenable to judicial review. Sarkaria J. speaking for the Court observed: ...An analysis of Section 303A(1) would show that before a declaration referred to in that Sub-section can be made, two requirements must be fulfilled: (1) existence of a situation by reason of disturbances in the whole or any part of the State; (2) the satisfaction of the State Government relatable to su ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... accomplishing a specified object that the offender can be released on probation of good conduct. 33. Power of exemption reserved in favour of Government under Section 178 of the Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 is also intended to relieve hardship arising from the operation of the Act. It is intended to enable the Government to deal with situations in which circumstances independent of the question of hardship render it expedient to do so by granting exemption. A liberal construction has, therefore, to be placed upon the provisions of Section 178(2) so that exercise of power for good and bona fide reasons is not defeated. 34. In the totality of the above circumstances we answer question No. 1 in the negative. We need to remember that nearly 96% of the landowners have already accepted the compensation and either accepted the acquisition proceedings or given up the challenge to the validity thereof. So also the fact that allotments in favour of different institutions have already been made cannot be ignored nor can a prestigious project like the one at hand be scuttled at this stage. Re: Question No. 2 35. In the light of what we have said while dealing with questi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... own therein. In the instant case, the State never called upon the Board to select a site, and instead a New Town Planning and Development Authority was constituted under Section 31 of the Act which arrogated to itself the powers and functions of the Board to select a site and make a recommendation to the State Government, and later moved the Government for acquisition of land under Section 42 of the Act. All these actions were in complete breach of the mandatory provisions of Section 56 of the Act, and therefore void. Hence it is held that the declaration of the planning area, a site for a new town, was never validly made by the competent authority after following the prescribed procedure and, therefore, there was in law no validly selected site for a new town, nor a validly declared planning area. Consequently, there was no justification for acquisition of land to set up a new town. The public purpose stated in the impugned notifications was non-existent in view of the fact that there was no planning area validly declared by the competent authority for the development of which any land was required. Section 42 which provided for acquisition of land under the provisions of the L ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nning and Development Board that the Board may reject the suggestions and objections which has been raised and declare the same as a local planning area under Section 56(5) of Act. The Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Board in its Meeting held on 15th November, 1999 at Chandigarh approved the recommendation Committee after considering the same. The Board also rejected the objections and suggestions received relating to the declaration of Local Planning Area, SAS Nagar. The Board under Section 56(5)(a) and (b) of the above Act also granted approval for the declaration of the same as a local planning area as also the name it local planning area SAS Nagar. The Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Board in accordance with the above mentioned decision declares the local planning area SAS Nagar under Section 56(a) (b) in consonance with Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act 1995. It shall be named as Local Planning Area SAS Nagar. The boundaries of the local planning are as under. 38. It is manifest that the above gave a sufficient basis for the Government to initiate proceedings for the acquisition of land needed for the proper expa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on nor the Land Acquisition Act make any measures for rehabilitation of the expropriated owners a condition precedent for compulsory acquisition of land. In the absence of any such obligation arising either under Article 300A or under any other statutory provision, rehabilitation of the owners cannot be treated as an essential requirement for a valid acquisition of property. We must, in fairness to Mr. Gupta mention that he did not suggest that rehabilitation of the oustees was an essential part of any process of compulsory acquisition so as to render illegal any acquisition that is not accompanied by such measure. He did not pitch his case that high and in our opinion rightly so. The decisions of this Court in New Reviera Coop Housing Society and Anr. v. Special Land Acquisition Officer and Ors. 1996 (1) SCC 731 and Chameli Singh and Ors. v. State of U.P. and Anr. 1996 (2) SCC 549 have repelled the contention that rehabilitation of the property owners is a part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution so as to render any compulsory acquisition for public purpose bad for want of any such measures. In New Reviera's case (supra) this Court held that if ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g system of acquisition governed by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. One of the areas in which this Court noticed dissatisfaction among the landowners is the absence of any rehabilitatory measures. This Court noted that several avenues for providing rehabilitation and economic security to landowners were available such as provision for employment, allotment of alternative lands, housing and safe opportunities for investment of compensation amount to generate stable income. The acquisitions were for that purpose classified by this Court into the following three categories: (i) Acquisitions for the benefit of the general public or in national interest. This will include acquisitions for roads, bridges, water supply projects, power projects, defence establishments, residential colonies for rehabilitation of victims of natural calamities. (ii) Acquisitions for economic development and industrial growth. This will include acquisitions for Industrial Layouts/Zones, corporations owned or controlled by the State, expansion of existing industries, and setting up Special Economic Zones. (iii) Acquisitions for planned development of urban areas. This will include acquisitions for form ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vely the authorities for whom acquisition is being made will have to take a broader initiative at the appropriate stage to make provision for allocation to the owners of what is due to them under the scheme. This can be done only when an acquisition is tailored according to the scheme. The scheme cannot be introduced after the acquisition and even allotment process is over. A mechanical extension of the scheme to acquisitions that have since become final cannot help. Any such attempt would be a potential recipe for considerable confusion and resultant litigation. In the completed acquisitions no provision regarding allocation to be made to the owners has been made. It is also not, in our opinion, feasible at this point of time to super impose the Land Pooling Scheme on the acquisition under challenge and make a provision for allocation to the owners in the sectors that are under development or those that have already been developed. The extent of area available in other sectors for such allotment and allocation is itself a matter regarding which there is no material before us. That apart even when the number of appellants before us is limited, any direction for rehabilitation based ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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