JUDGMENT:

A.K. MENON, J.

1. Heard learned Counsel for the parties.

2. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent taken up for hearing and final disposal. The learned Additional Government Advocate waives service on behalf of the State and the learned Central Government Standing Counsel, waives service on behalf of the Central Government.

3. This common order disposes the above Writ Petitions and Civil Application No. 1660 of 2021 (F) filed in Writ Petition No. 1149 of 2021. The factual aspects in each of these Writ Petitions are set out in brief.

WRIT PETITION NO. 1119 OF 2021(F)

4. The six petitioners claim as owners of lands engaged in cultivation. They claim that the income that they derive from the agriculture is their only source. They will be gravely prejudiced and lose their only source of income if the lands are acquired. The petitioners challenge the process of acquisition of land initiated by the Union of India under the National Highways Act, 1956 (Highways Act) proposing to construct a link road (new NH-166S) from NH-66 (old NH17) near Dhargalim to Mopa near Varconda in the State of Goa. The petitioners also challenge an order dated 18.02.2021 passed by the Competent Authority of the Land Acquisition Office of the Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO), PWD Cell. The petitioners allege illegal invocation of the Highways Act, 1956 for the purpose of constructing the link road from the national highway to the new Airport. The intention being to allegedly deprive the petitioners from right to fair compensation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act). Briefly put, it is the contention of the petitioners that the provisions of the Highways Act have been invoked in order to defeat provisions of the Land Acquisition Act and thereby violating fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

5. In Writ Petition No. 1128 of 2021 the twenty petitioners are residents of Tulaskarwadi, Nagzer, situated in Casarvanem village in Pernem Taluka, a few kilometres away from the proposed new Airport at Mopa. They challenge notifications dated 23.09.2020, 28.12.2020, 18.02.2021 and two orders dated 18.02.2021 and 15.02.2021, by which, the respondent no. 3, namely, the SLAO under the Highways Act rejected objections raised by petitioners 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 to the proposed acquisition of land owned by them. In the order dated 15.02.2021, the respondent no. 3 dismissed proceedings raising objections by petitioners 12 and 16. The petitioners also challenge notifications dated 06.04.2021, 23.09.2020 and 28.12.2020, which were issued under Section 2(2) and 3-A of the Highways Act, declaring the intention to acquire land described in the schedule to the notification for construction near NH-166S. Notification dated 06.04.2021 declares that the land mentioned in the schedule to the notification would vest absolutely in the Central Government free of encumbrances. The last notification also invited claims from interested persons for determination of compensation payable as the result of the proposed acquisition.

WRIT PETITION NO. 1127 OF 2021

6. The petitioners in this Writ Petition are thirteen in number. The challenge is identical to that in Writ Petition No. 1128/2021 except for the description of their property.

WRIT PETITION NO. 1149 OF 2021

7. The petitioners are ten in number and the challenge is to issuance of notification dated 28.12.2020 proposing to acquire 46.6693 hectares of land in villages Dhargalim, Varconda and Casarvarnem in Pernem Taluka for construction of NH-166S. In addition also, the lands are said to be agricultural lands in possession of petitioners' families for over a century and are said to be a part of the Tillari Irrigation Project and a notified Command Area under the Goa Command Area Development Act, 1997 (GCAD Act). The challenge mounted is slightly different from the other three Peti