JUDGMENT

PUNCHHI, J.—Special leave granted in this bunch of petitions.

2. These appeals are directed against the common judgment and order dated February 22, 1990 passed by a Division Bench of the Patna High Court in a batch of writ petitions, preferred before it in the years 1983 and 1984, excepting one in the year 1988, whereby declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act (the Act) dated March 16/18, 1983 was quashed and the case remitted to the State Government for further proceedings under two heads.

3. The appellants herein are a few members of the Bihar Finance Service House Construction Cooperative Society, a society registered way back in the year 1973, under the Bihar and Orissa Cooperative Societies Act. Its members, the appellants state, are about 400 in number. It was stated to have been floated by members of the Bihar Finance Service who were landless and did not own any residential plot or house in the city of Patna. Statedly, its membership was not confined to the members of the Bihar Finance Service alone but was open to everyone who was similarly landless. The Society was organised and knit to secure from the State Government land by acquisition so that the society could give plots to its members or build houses and give them to its members. For the purpose, in 1973 itself it put a proposal to the State Government to acquire 59.95 acres of land in the revenue estate of village Kumhrar, a part of the city of Patna. After some steps, the State Government issued a notification under Section 4 of the Act on April 21, 1981 inviting interested persons to file their objections under Section 5-A of the said Act. On objections received from interested persons, and disposed of by the Additional Land Collector, and on report submitted, declaration under Section 6 of the Act was made to acquire land to the extent aforementioned except 5 acres which were set apart for allotment to persons likely to be disturbed by the acquisition. On writ petitions filed, the High Court quashed the declaration under Section 6 remitting back the matter to the State Government for reconsideration on two counts, one such count being violation of the mandatory provisions of Section 5-A. This is how the matter has come before us in appeal.

4. It prominently needs to be mentioned, at this stage, that both the notifications under Sections 4 and 6 were issued in the state of law as was existing prior to the passing of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984 (Act 68 of 1984). This law on the subject rather was substituted and amended by various Bihar legislative enactments. It is to the law as applicable in the State of Bihar that we shall henceforth advert to for deciding this matter.

5. Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act as applicable to Bihar provides as follows:

"(1) Whenever it appears to the appropriate Government or the Collector that land in any locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purpose, a notification to that effect shall be published at the office of the Collector, at the office of the sub-divisional officer, at the offices of the smallest revenue administrative unit and Gram Panchayat, if any, constituted under the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (Bihar Act VII of 1948), and at some conspicuous place in the village in which the land is situated; and the Collector shall cause copies of the notification to be served on all persons known or believed to be interested in the land.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this section the expression smallest revenue administrative unit shall mean the revenue administrative unit next below that of a sub-division whether known for the time being as N.E.S. Block, Circle, Anchal or otherwise.

(2) Thereupon it shall be lawful for any officer, either generally or specially authorised by such Government or the Collector in this behalf, and for his servants and workmen,-

to enter upon and survey and take levels of any land in such locality;...."

6. By virtue of clause (c) of S