2001 Supreme(SC) 1589

2001(8) Supreme 211
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(Under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India)
S.P. Bharucha, CJI., Syed Shah Mohammed Quadri, N. Santosh Hegde, S.N. Variava and Shivaraj V. Patil, JJ.
The Society of St. Joseph s College -Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors. -Respondents
Writ Petition (C) No. 42 of 1985
With
Civil Appeal No. 7751 of 2001
Decided on 20-11-2001
Counsel for the Parties :
For the Appearing Parties : Soli J. Sorabjee, Attorney General, V.A. Bobde, Sr. Advocate, K.R. Nambiar, M.N. Varghese, Preetesh Kapur, Pankaj Kalra, Ms. Varuna Bhandari Gugnani, Ashok Bhan, P. Parmeswaran, C.V. Subba Rao, Advocates.

VERY IMPORTANT POINT
Provisions of Clause (1A) of Article 30 of the Constitution of India, 1950 relating to making of any law for compulsory acquisition of any property of a minority s educational institution can be met by making suitable amendments in the existing Land Acquisition Laws and for that purpose Parliament and State Legislatures are given time upto 31.5.2002 to make such laws, if they so choose. If they are not so amended, the pending and uncompleted acquisitions of the properties of the minority educational institutions shall lapse. But if they are duly amended, the amounts payable for such acquisitions shall be determined thereunder.

Headnote:Constitution of India, 1950-Article 30(1A) (as introduced in 1978)-Interpretation of making any law for compulsory acquisition of any property of a minority s educational institution-Petitioner s property, which is a religious minority institution, is sought to be acquired under Requisition and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1956 r/w Land Acquisition Act, 1894-Writ petition under Article 32 SLP for a declaration that provisions of Land Acquisition Act do not apply and the quashing of notifications under Sections 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act in respect of said building-Meaning and scope of Article 30(1A)-Whether requires a separate enactment exclusively for compulsory acquisition of minority educational institution? (No, the object can be achieved by suitable amendment in general law of acquisition)-Time given upto 31.5.2002 to make such suitable amendments-Order accordingly in writ petition and civil appeal.

       Held : Article 30 is a part of the chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution. It guarantees a right to the minorities, religious and linguistic, to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Clause (1A) thereof requires that the State shall, in making a law that provides for the compulsory acquisition of any property of a minority educational institution, ensure that the amount, either fixed or determined under such law, that is payable to the educational institution for the acquisition of its property is such as would not either restrict or abrogate the right aforementioned. Clause (1A), therefore, requires the State, that is to say, Parliament in the case of a Central legislation or a State legislature in the case of State legislation, to make a specific law to provide for the compulsory acquisition of the property of minority educational institutions, the provisions of which law should ensure that the amount payable to the educational institution for the acquisition of its property will not be such as will in any manner impair the functioning of the educational institution. It is not necessary that a statute should be enacted exclusively for the compulsory acquisition of the property of minority educational institutions, but it is necessary that in a law that provides, in general, for the compulsory acquisition of property, there should be enacted, by amendment thereof, a provision that relates specifically to the acquisition of the property of minority educational institutions. That provision must ensure that the amount payable for such acquisition will not in any manner impair the right conferred upon the minorities by Article 30. Plainly, Parliament in its constituent capacity apprehended that minority educational institutions could be compelled to close down or curtail their activities by the expedient of acquiring their property and paying them inadequate amounts in exchange. To obviate the violation of the right conferred by Article 30 in this manner, Parliament introduced the safeguard provision in the Constitution, first in Article 31 and then in Article 30. We cannot accept the submission of the learned Attorney General that the provisions of a statute that provides for the acquisition of property in general, as for example, the Land Acquisition Act, are adequate for the compulsory acquisition of the property of minority educational institutions because what is payable thereunder is compensation, or that the provisions of clause (1A) of Article 30 should be read into such statute. Clause (1A) clearly states that after the date of its introduction there must be a law that specifically relates to the compulsory acquisition of the property of minority educational institutions and that that law must make provisions that ensure that the amounts that are fixed or determined thereunder for the acquisitions are such as do not restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under Article 30. Necessarily, such law must require the taking into account of factors that do not come into play in the determination of amounts payable in relation to the acquisition of the properties of others and are, therefore, not set out in the general acquisition statutes. We think, however, that it is appropriate that Parliament and the State legislatures should have time upto 31st May, 2002 to make such laws, if they so choose, and that pending and uncompleted acquisitions of the properties of minority educational institutions should lapse only if at the end of such time the statutes under which the acquisitions have been commenced have not been duly amended. On the other hand, if they are duly amended, the amounts payable for such acquisitions shall be determined thereunder. This will apply as well to the acquisition of the said building of the petitioner under the Land Acquisition Act. Order on the writ petition accordingly. The Civil Appeal No. 7751 of 2001 shall stand disposed of in the above terms. No order as to costs. (Paras 6 to 14)