JUDGMENT :

Rashid Ali Dar, J.

1. Through the medium of instant petition, petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:-

Certiorari:

i. Quashing the Notification issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act dated 23rd of December, 2016 and all orders passed in pursuance thereof.

Mandamus:

i. Not to pass issue and declaration or pass any final award and already issued not to act upon the same till the outcome of the ' writ petition.

ii. Directing the respondents to produce the entire records pertaining to the decision for construction of Hewagan Dhanmasta Road from the initial stage, the decisions taken and the procedure adopted for arriving at the decision including survey and the certificate of fitness of the hilly terrain for purposes of construction of the road along with.

iii. Directing the respondents to produce the detailed records of the acquisition proceedings undertaken before the issuance of the section 4(1) Notification dated 23.12.2016.

iv. Directing the respondents not to consider the issue as in public interest merely because the petitioners are lesser in number, but have the same rights as any other citizen who is entitled to a right to life, liberty and dignity whether living in a village, town or a city.

Prohibition:

i. Prohibiting the respondents from constructing the road through the lands of the petitioners or taking any decision ignoring the interest of the petitioners or without giving any further opportunity of being heard.

ii. Writ of prohibition restraining the respondents from constructing the road through agricultural land in violation of the standing orders and circulars issued by the Government from time to time.

2. The petitioners, who are ten in number, have challenged the Notification dated 23rd of December, 2016 issued under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act by respondent No. 3 whereby the land/property has been proposed to be acquired for the construction of Hewagan-Dhanmasta road under PMGSY scheme. The facts projected in the petition, in brief, are:

(1) The petitioners who are residents of Revenue Village Dhanmasta Tehsil Pogal Paristan (Ukhral) District, Ramban, are dependent upon the small land holdings which they possess.

(2) The respondent No. 3 issued notification u/s. 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act under No. Acq./PMGSY/16/525-34, dated 23.12.2016 notifying therein that the land mentioned therein is required for public purpose, namely, for construction of Hewagan Dhanmasta first 3.00 km under PMGSY at village Dhanmasta Tehsil Pogal Paristan District.

(3) The petitioner No. 1 got the knowledge of the issuance of the aforesaid Notification dated 23rd of December, 2016 through passersby and immediately efforts were made to find out whether any such Notification had been issued. In pursuance of the application filed under Right to Information Act, the Notification which was published in the newspaper was provided.

(4) Hewagan-Dhanmasta road was sanctioned under package No. JK04-101. Since the construction of road from Hewagan to Dhanmasta was causing damage to the property and residents of the area, the Collector Land Acquisition recommended the high level team to be constituted to explore the possibility of alternate take off point of the road. The respondents brought the issue to the knowledge of the concerned authorities, who instead of permitting the alternate take off point permitted the respondents to change the alignment. An application under Right to Information Act was filed on 4th of December, 2013 seeking certain information from Public Information Officer, office of Executive Engineer PMGSY, Division Banihal, District Ramban and in reply thereto, the respondents furnished the information that the proposal of the road was under process. It has further been pleaded that the primary object of PMGSY was providing the road connectivity which is only key component of Rural Development for promoting the access to economic and social services. The idea of rural connectivity is tha