Judgment :-

G.S. Singhvi, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. Respondent No.1 is the owner of the land measuring 5300 sq. mtrs. comprised in Survey No.72, Penkarpada, Mira Road, within the municipal limits of Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (hereinafter referred to as, ‘the Corporation’). In the Development plan prepared under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (for short, ‘the 1966 Act’), which was sanctioned on 14.5.1997 and was enforced on 15.7.1997, a portion of the land belonging to respondent No.1 (2500 sq. mtrs.) was shown as reserved for extension of Royal College of Arts, Science and Commerce run by the Royal Society of Bombay (for short, ‘the Society’).

3. In December, 2005 the Corporation made an application to the District Collector for initiation of the acquisition proceedings. The latter asked the Corporation to submit detailed proposal for facilitating the acquisition. Thereupon, the Competent Authority prepared a detailed plan, which was submitted to the Collector on 26.7.2006.

4. In the meanwhile, the Society filed Writ Petition No.4341/2005 for issue of a direction to the State Government and the Corporation to expedite the acquisition proceedings. The Divis