important point
Writ petition filed after taking over the possession in a land acquisition proceeding and the award having become final is not maintainable and liable to be dismissed on the ground of delay and laches.

judgment

Ashok Bhan, J. —

1.Leave granted.

2.Challenge in the present appeal is to the order passed on 04th September 2006 in D.B. Special Appeal (W) No.134 of 2006 by a Division Bench of the High Court of Rajasthan dismissing the appeal filed by the appellants whereby the Division Bench has upheld the judgment and order passed by a learned Single Judge of the same High Court dismissing the writ petition filed by the appellants thereby upholding the acquisition proceedings in respect of the land of the appellants.

3.In order to appreciate the grievance of the appellants, facts leading to the filing of the appeal are necessary to be indicated.

4.Notice under Section 52(2) [which is equivalent to Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894] of the Rajasthan Urban Improvement Act 1959 (for short, ‘the Act’) was issued on 25th June 1975 for acquiring the land of the appellants bearing Khasra No.383 measuring 14 bighas and 16 biswas situated at Madrampura, Jaipur, Rajasthan. As per the said notice, land was sought to be acquired for improvement and purposes of Jaipur Town extension of Civil Lines Area for construction of buildings. On 23rd August 1975, another notice was issued by the State under Section 52(2) of the Act indicating the purpose of acquisition of land for extension of civil lines and planning of housing scheme. Appellants, on 08th September 1975, filed objections to the acquisition of their land. The appellants also submitted their representation from time to time. The Land Acquisition Officer, however, rejected the objections. On 08th February 1984, the Government issued declaration under Section 52(1) of the Act [which is equivalent to Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894]. Pursuant to the said declaration, notice under Section 52(5) of the Act was issued asking the appellants to hand over possession of the land.

5.After these notices were issued, the appellants filed Writ Petition No.5972 of 1984 before the High Court of Calcutta. A learned Single Judge of the High Court of Calcutta, while issuing rule nisi, granted stay of the acquisition proceedings and restrained the respondents from taking possession of the land. Aggrieved against the said order the respondents filed Special Leave Petition before this Court, inter alia, challenging the jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court to entertain the writ petition. Since the Special Leave Petition was filed against an interim order, this Court did not go into the merits of the case and while granting leave, by order dated 08th April 1985, set aside the order of the Calcutta High Court and held that the Calcutta High Court did not have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the writ petition in respect of a land situated in the State of Rajasthan. Thus, the proceedings before the Calcutta High Court came to an end.

6.On 17.02.1987, possession of the land in question is alleged to have been taken by the respondents and the same was handed over to Jaipur Development Authority. However, according to the the appellants, possession was not taken.

7.The appellants filed Writ Petition No.1507 of 1987 in the High Court of Rajasthan which was withdrawn by them on 10th March 1989 with liberty to file a fresh writ petition.

8.On 26th June 1989, the Land Acquisition Officer passed the award and forwarded the same for approval to the State Government. According to the respondents, the State Government accorded its approval on 29th July 1989 which was declared by the Land Acquisition Officer on 30th July 1989 in accordance with law.

9.In the meantime, the appellants filed S.B.Civil Writ Petition No.2911 of 1989 seeking quashing of Notification dated 08th February 1984 and also notice dated 17th/18th February 2007 by which the possession is alleged to have been taken. One of the objections taken by the respondents before the High Court was that the writ petition could not be entertained after taking over of the possession of the land and handing over the same to Jaipur Development