B. P. Colabawalla, J.

1. By this Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners seek a direction for quashing the notification issued under Section 4 (dated 22nd November, 2011) and the declaration issued under Section 6 (dated 19th October, 2012) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short the “said Act”). In addition, the petitioners also seek quashing of the award dated 17th October, 2014 that were passed in relation to the non-agricultural land plot No.20 of Survey No.64/2 totally admeasuring 439 square meters. Out of this entire larger property, an area admeasuring 165.75 square meters with the residential bungalow standing thereon was sought to be acquired (for short the “acquired property”) for a public purpose, namely, construction of a ring road around Silvassa. The grounds on which the petitioners have challenged the acquisition are more particularly set out in the written submissions tendered on behalf of the petitioners and which we shall advert to a little later. However, before dealing with the legal submissions, it would be apposite to set out a few necessary facts.

2. The petitioners claim to be co-owners of the larger property along with the bungalow constructed thereon. According to the petitioners, out of this larger property of 439 square meters, 165.75 square meters with a major portion of their bungalow “Alif Villa” are the subject matter of the acquisition proceedings which have finally culminated in an award. According to the petitioners, in this bungalow they are living their retired life.

3. It is not in dispute that the Union Territory Administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, considering the huge number of industries operating in this small territory, took a policy decision to construct a ring-road to bypass the heavy vehicles from the urban area and to establish a transport hub, to better manage the traffic and also to prevent many fatal accidents occurring due to movement of heavy traffic into the urban town area. In furtherance of this policy decision, the School of Planning and Architecture, SPA, Delhi, undertook a study and submitted a report in August 1999 indicating the final alignment of the proposed ring-road. This proposed ring-road alignment was thereafter also reflected in the Regional Plan which was notified in the year 2001 (for years 2000- 2020). Thereafter, the same alignment was also reflected in the revised Regional Plan (for the years 2007-2021). This alignment was also notified under the draft Outline Development Plan for Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 2012 for publication, and was finalized in March 2014. The original alignment and the structure of the ring road was prepared by the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi after carrying out various detailed surveys and investigations and which is reflected in a detailed report submitted to the Administration.

4. In order to construct this ring-road, acquisition proceedings were initiated. Accordingly, a notification was issued under Section 4(1) of the said Act, on 22nd November, 2011. Under this notification, objections were invited in writing within a period of 30 days from the date of the notification. The project of the ring-road was divided into eight different stretches from one point to another and was a four lane road with a 30 meter Right of Way stretching over 11.3 km. The total tendered cost for the construction of this ring road was about 66.66 crores.

5. As far as the petitioners are concerned, their acquired property (which includes a part of their Bungalow), falls within the stretch B-C of the ring-road. As far as this particular stretch is concerned, a total number of 10 structures are affected and the total disbursement of compensation to the affected persons in this stretch (stretch B-C) is approximately 1.59 crores. It is also not in dispute that the earth work cutting/embankment is under progress as on today.

6. Be that as it may, in response to the notification issu