ORDER

1. Leave granted.

2. In this appeal, the State Government of Kerala seeks to withdraw from acquisition of land at Mullackal in Alappuzha town in order to acquire land at Pallathuruthy. The question is, can it do so?

3. The learned Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India has drawn our attention to the fact that the State Government had issued the notifications under Sections 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 read with Article 258 of the Constitution, dated 16-12-1997 and 16-12-1998respectively, as a delegatee of the Central Government. The order of delegation was passed on 19-1-1985. The land which was subject-matter of the acquisition proceedings at Mullackal area in Alappuzha town had been notified for the purposes of a terminal for the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The proceedings were initiated after the matter had been considered at great length. The land in question was only part of the entire project for which the Central Government had already released Rs 975.27 lakhs to the State Government of which Rs 268.97 lakhs was for Alappuzha district alone. Out of this amount, the State Government had already paid compensation to some of the la