Utilization of land for road construction under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna requires written consent or donation of land, and the owner must be duly compensated.

Ajay Mohan Goel, J.

The present writ petition has been filed praying for the following reliefs:

“(i) That the respondents may be directed to produce total record of the case for the perusal of this Hon’ble Court, so that this Hon’ble Court may be able to decide the subject matter of the dispute;

(ii) That appropriate orders and directions may be issued in favour of the petitioner and against the respondents that the petitioner should not be deprived of his property without payment of amount of compensation and the due process should be initiated in accordance with law for payment of amount of compensation in accordance with law.

(iii) In case the respondents are not willing to acquire the land in question, directions may be issued to the respondents to vacate the area in question and handover the physical possession thereof to the petitioner and also they may be required to pay the amount of compensation/dues on account of damage as already caused by uprooting and felling down the fruit bearing apple plants and by way of throwing debris stones.

Any other suitable relief which this Hon’ble Court deems fit and proper under the given facts and circumstances of the case may also be passed in favour of the petitioner.

2. The case of the petitioner is that he is owner in possession of the land comprised in Khata Khatauni No. 1/1, Khasra No. 358, measuring 0-21-46 hectares, situated at Mauza Nohra, Pargana Baragaon, Tehsil Chopal, District Shimla, H.P. As per him, the respondents started the work of construction of Reoni to Khagna road during the year, 2008 and as per initial survey for construction of this road, land of the petitioner was not required. In other words, the road in question was to be constructed without occupying the land of the petitioner. However, despite this, the respondents without any justification altered the survey in such a manner that the road was constructed through the land of the petitioner.

3. When he came to know about this, he objected that the survey should not be changed and his land should not be utilized for the purpose of construction of the road. His grievance is that despite his objections, respondent No. 3 unauthorizedly and illegally started the construction work of the road in issue in Khasra No. 348 owned by him.

4. The case of the petitioner further is that the construction of road commenced in October, 2008 and by the time he served legal notice dated 14.01.2009 upon the respondents, his orchard has been badly damaged as a result of construction work of the said road. It is further his case that in response to the applications filed by him under the Right to Information Act, the Executive Engineer, Chopal Division, H.P. P.W.D. vide communication dated 05.11.2009 (Annexure P-11) stated that the land of the petitioner was not deliberately used by the department, but the petitioner permitted the department to use the said land and further that there was no provision of compensation of land under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana and that the department was constructing road in larger public interest. It was further mentioned in the communication that at the time of survey, the petitioner allowed the department to conduct the survey of the land. According to the petitioner, the contention of respondent No. 3 was totally incorrect because he had not given any consent whatsoever to the effect that he was willing to have a road constructed through his land.

5. Thus, according to the petitioner, in the present case, his land has been utilized by the respondents for the purpose of construction of road and he has been deprived of his property by the Government without adequately compensating him. It is in this background that he has filed the present writ petition.

6. In its reply, the respondent-State reiterated that the construction of the road has been done as the petitioner himself allowed the respondent department to construct the road adjacent and through the suit land and after construction of