1. Land acquisition notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act for a public purpose to be funded by a market committee. (Para 1 )
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1970 Supreme(SC) 333
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
A.N.Grover : J.C.Shah : K.S.Hegde
Patel Premji Jiva
Versus
State Of Gujarat
Case No. : 361 of 1970
Date of Decision : 8/20/70
A market committee recognized as a local authority under state legislation and the General Clauses Act qualifies as a "local authority" under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as the latter relies on the General Clauses Act for the definition.
Headnote:(A) Land Acquisition Act, 1894 - Section 6 - Local Authority - Definition - The expression "local authority" is not defined in the Land Acquisition Act. By the General Clauses Act, 1897, it means a municipal committee, district board, body of port commissioners or other authority legally entitled to or entrusted by the government with the control or management of a municipal or local fund. Where a market committee is designated as a local authority under a state agricultural produce markets act and the general clauses act of the state, it constitutes a local authority within the meaning of Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. (Para 4)
Facts of the case:
The government notified for acquisition an area of land in a town for a public purpose. A notification was published declaring the land was needed for a new market yard, to be acquired at the expense of a market committee. The appellant challenged the validity of this notification on the ground that the market committee was not a "local authority" within the meaning of the Land Acquisition Act, and thus the government was not competent to acquire the land.
Findings of Court:
The market committee, by virtue of the state's agricultural produce markets act and the general clauses act, is a body entrusted by the government with the control or management of a local fund. Consequently, it falls within the definition of a "local authority" as per the General Clauses Act and, by extension, Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.
Issues: Whether a market committee constituted under a state agricultural produce markets act qualifies as a "local authority" for the purpose of land acquisition under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.
Ratio Decidendi: Since the Land Acquisition Act does not define "local authority," the definition provided in the General Clauses Act applies. A body entrusted by the government with the control or management of a local fund is a local authority. As the market committee is recognized as such under the relevant state statutes, it satisfies the requirements of Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.
Result: Appeal fails and is dismissed with costs.
Legal Category Hierarchy
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administrative law
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land acquisition
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statutory interpretation
- local authority (Para 4)
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statutory interpretation
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land acquisition
Table of Contents
2. Whether a market committee constitutes a local authority within the meaning of Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. (Para 2 )
3. The court analyzed the definition of local authority under the General Clauses Act and the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act. (Para 4 )
4. A body entrusted by the government with the control or management of a local fund is a local authority under the Land Acquisition Act. (Para 4 )
5. Appeal dismissed with costs. (Para 5 )
6. Does the Land Acquisition Act 1 of 1894 define the term local authority?
No, the expression local authority is not defined within the Land Acquisition Act. (Para 4 )
7. How is a local authority defined when not specified in the primary Act?
It is defined by the General Clauses Act as a municipal committee, district board, body of port commissioners, or any authority legally entitled to or entrusted by the government with the control or management of a municipal or local fund. (Para 4 )
8. Is a market committee constituted under the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963, considered a local authority for land acquisition?
Yes, because it is entrusted by the government with the control or management of a local fund, making it a local authority within the meaning of the General Clauses Act and Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. (Para 4 )
J.C.Shah,J.
(1) N exercise of the powers under S. 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1 of 1894, the government of Gujarat notified for acquisition an area of land in the town of Gondal, for a public purpose. Enquiry was under S. 5-A of the Land Acquisition Act and thereafter on 11/05/1966, a notification was published under Section 6 of the Act declaring that the land was needed for a public purpose. It was stated in the notification "and whereas the government of Gujarat is satisfied after considering the report of the Deputy Collector under Ss. (2) of S. 6-A of the Land Acquisition Act 1 of 1894 that the said land is needed to be acquired at the expense of a local body, i.e., Agricultural Produce Markets Committee, Gondal, for the purpose specified in Column 4 of the Schedule hereto, it is hereby declared under the provisions of S. 6 of the said Act that the land is required for the purpose specified in Column 4 of the Schedule hereto; and in Column 4 of the Schedule the purpose specified was for New Market Yard at Gondal".
(2) THE appellant moved a petition before the High court of Gujarat challenging the validity of this notification. It was urged in support of the petition that the Agricultural Produce Markets Committee not being a "local authority" within the meaning of Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, the government of Gujarat was not competent to acquire the land under the Land Acquisition Act.
(3) S. 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, by the first subection provides for making a declaration that the land is needed for a public purpose. There are two provisos to that S. of which the second is relevant :
"PROVIDED further that no such declaration shall be made unless the compensation to be awarded for such property is to be paid by a Company, or wholly or partly out of public revenue or some fund conrolled or managed by a local authority."
(4) THE expression "local authority "is not defined in the Land Acquisition Act. But by the General Clauses Act 10 of 1897 the expression "local authority" is defined as meaning "a municipal committee, district board, body of port commissioners or other authority legally entitled to or entrusted by the government with, the control or management of a municipal or local fund". By virtue of S. 10(2) of the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963, the market committee is a local authority within the meaning of the Bombay General Clauses Act. A local authority being by virtue of S. 3 (26) of the Bombay General Clauses Act, 1904, a body which is entrusted by government with control or management, inter alia, of a local fund, there is no scope for the argument that the market committee constituted under Gujarat Agricultural Markets Act, 1963, is not a local authority within the meaning of S. 6 of the Land Acquisition Act.
(5) THE appeal therefore fails and is dismissed with costs.
