1. - If a statute directs a thing to be done in certain way, that thing shall not, even if there be no negative words, be done in any other way." (Echoed as back as in the year 1876 in Ex parte Stephens- (1876) 3 Ch. D. 659)."In other words, it can be safely re-sounded that a body, which is creature of statute, must act either in accordance with the statute which created it or must act not at all.

2. Law has reached its finest stages and there must not be any attempt reverse the gear. Not only equality, as said in E.P. Royappal (AIR 1974 SC 555 at page 583- para 85), but also, from a positivistic point of view, "rule of law" is antithetic to "arbitrariness", the latter belongs to the whim and caprice of an absolute monarch. The great purpose of the rule of law notion is the protection of the individual against arbitrary exercise of power, wherever it is found.

3. A notification No. F. 6(15) No. VI. A/11/87, dated January 6, 1988 was published by the Government of the State of Rajasthan in Urban Development & Housing Department, in Part-6 (Kha) of the Rajasthan Gazette, dated July 7,1988, stating therein that it appeared to the State Government that buildings and land situated in the area specified in the notification were needed or were likely to be needed for public purpose, i.e., by the Jaipur Development Authority, for the discharge of its functions and execution of its development programme. This notification was published in pursuance of Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, hereinafter, "the Acquisition Act"). By another notification dated July 28, 1989, published in the Rajasthan Gazette (Extraordinary), dated July 31, 1989, the State Government published declaration under Section 6 of the Acquisition Act to the effect that the lands described in details in the notification, it appeared to the State Government, were needed for public purpose, i.e., by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), for the discharge of its functions and its development programmes. This declaration was made after considering the report of the Land Acquisition Officer, City Development Projects, Jaipur, made under section 5-A of the Acquisition Act.

4. The lands sought to be acquired are situated in Villages Jhotwara, Govindpura, Gokulpura, Chak Peethawas, Panchiawalla, Lawas alias Meenawala, Vishnawala, Beer Khatipura, Girdharipura, Heerapura, Lalarpura, Dhadwas and Gajsinghpura of Tehsil-Jaipur (District - Jaipur) and in Villages Nandkishorepura alias Maniawas, Chak Ganpatpura No. 1, Chak Ganpatpura No. 2, Asarpura, Mangiawas, Badarwas, Manpur Dewari alias Galiawas, Balrampura alias Khejron-ka-Bas and Kalyanpura of Tehsil-Sanganer (District - Jaipur). The total area of the lands of these villages sought to be acquired was notified to be 10, 721 bighas 17 biswas.

5. All these writ petitions have been filed challenging the legality and validity of the acquisition-proceedings relating to lands situated in various villages, on several grounds. It is necessary to specify at one place the various grounds taken by various petitioners on the basis of which, the acquisition proceedings have been challenged by them. While most of the grounds of attack are common, some of the petitioners have taken some special grounds applicable to their own individual cases. The various grounds taken are extracted below:-

(1) Neither the area has been declared as "development area" under Section 29 of the Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982, nor any project or scheme has been published under section 39(4) and (5) of the Act and as such, the proposed acquisition of land for the purpose of JDA is illegal and without any authority of law.

(2) Prithvi Raj Nagar Scheme of the JDA is a haphazard and vague scheme. The scheme was prepared without following the procedure prescribed in Sections 38 & 39 of the Act. In the absence of the scheme being sanctioned, no acquisition proceedings of the lands could legally be initiated.

(3) Master-Plan of the Jaip