The publication of a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in newspapers having circulation in the locality and the publication of the substance of the notification at a convenient place in the locality are mandatory requirements for the validity of the notification.

P. P. NAOLEKAR, J.

( 1 ) AS common questions of law and facts are involved in these petitions, they are decided by this common order.

( 2 ) IN village Mandafia Sanwaliyaji, there is a temple of Lord Krishna. The management of the temple and its properties is under the Board constituted under Shri Sanwalijaji Temple Act, 1992. A notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short the Act (hereinafter) was issued on 10-7-1996 and was published in the Rajasthan Gazette dated 27-7-1996 for acquisition of lands and buildings for extension of temple Shri Sanwaliyaji and for construction of temple premises. A notification under Section 4 (1) of the Act was published in the newspapers Pratah Kal published from Udaipur, dated 4-9-1996, Lalkar published from Chittorgarh dated 5-9-1996 and Rajasthan Kiran published from Nimbaheda dated 12-9-1996. A declaration under Section 6 read with Section 17 of the Act was published in Rajashtan Gazette dated 18-9-1996, in the newspapers ,jan Nayak dated 21-9-1996 and Rajasthan Patrika dated 9-10-1996. Notices under Section 9 of the Act were issued to some of the owners of the properties under acquisition.

( 3 ) IN view of Section 4 as amended by the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 1984, three modes of publications are prescribed by the statute, namely, (a) publication in the Official Gazette; (b) publication in two daily newspapers circulating in the locality, one of which dailies must be in the regional language; and, lastly (c) publication of the substance of notification at a convenient place in the locality. Unless all the aforesaid modes of publication are resorted to, the notification would be clearly invalid and inoperative, as under the statute the last of dates of such publications shall be the date of publication of the notification. The publication of the notification by all the three modes is a mandatory requirement under Section 4 (1) of the Act.

( 4 ) THE notification under Section 4 (1) is challenged by the petitioners on two counts : (i) that the notification under Section 4 (1) has not been published as required in the newspapers having circulation in the locality; and (ii) that the publication of the substance of the notification at a convenient place in the locality has not been made and, therefore there is non-compliance of the mandatory provisions of the Act and the acquisition proceedings be quashed.

( 5 ) THE petitioners have filed the letters of the Branch Manager, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Sanwaliyaji Mandafiya; Headmaster, Govt. Senior Secondary School, Mandafia; the Assistant Veterinary Surgeon, Mandafia; the Senior Medical Officer, Mandafia; the Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat, Mandafia; to the effect that the newspapers in which the notification under Section 4 (1) was published, is not subscribed by them whereas the respondents filed a certificate of Public Relation Officer, Chittorgarh that the daily newspapers Pratah Kal, Jan Nayak and Lalkar have good circulation in Chittorgarh district and besides subscribed by Govt. departments in different places in the district, they are subscribed by Public Libraries and are seen at public places and have a good number of readers. The object of the notification under Section 4 is to give public notice, that it is proposed to acquire the land mentioned in the notification and that anyone who deals in that land subsequent to the notification would do so at his own risk. Preliminary notification under Section 4 is only a proposal to acquire land. A notification under Section 4 achieves a two-fold object. First, it is a public announcement by the appropriate Govt. and a public notice by the Collector in respect of the land being needed or likely to be needed by the Govt. for a public purpose and secondly, it authorises the departmental officers, or officers of a local authority or company, as the case may be, to survey and do other acts by entering the land. Thus, the words used "two newspapers