The publication of the substance of the notification in the concerned locality is a mandatory requirement under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and it has to be made simultaneously with or at least immediately after the publication of the notification in the official Gazette.

PREM CHAND JAIN, J.

1. Rattan Singh and another have filed this petition under Arts. 226/227 of the Constitution of India, for the issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing the notifications issued under Ss. 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), copies Annexures P-1 and P-2 respectively. The facts of the case may briefly be stated thus:-

The petitioners are small landowners in village Nijjarpura, Tahsil and District Amritsar, and own about 51 Kanals each of agricultural land. It is stated in the petition that respondent No. 1 issued a notification u/s. 4 of the Act, to the effect that the land in the locality, specified in the notification was needed by the Government at public expense for a public purpose, namely, for allotment of house sites to the landless workers in the rural areas. Later on, the Collector, Amritsar, respondent No. 2, issued notification under Ss. 6 and 7 of the Act, which was published in the Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 26.06.1975. In the said notification it has been stated that the land specified in the said notification was needed by the Government as public expense for a public purpose, namely, for the allotment of house sites to the landless workers in the rural areas. As the two notifications also included the land belonging to the petitioners, the present petition has been filed challenging the legality of the said two notifications.

2. This matter came up for hearing earlier before me and my learned brother Bains J. Finding that the point involved in the petition was of importance, we decided to refer the matter to a larger Bench. That is how, we are seized of the matter.

3. The question that falls for determination may be stated thus:-

To make Section 4 notification valid, is it legally essential to give publicity of the substance of the notification in the concerned locality simultaneously with or immediately after publication of the notification in the official Gazette?

4. The contention of Mr. M.L. Sarin, learned counsel for the petitioners was that after the publication of the notification in the official Gazette, publicity of the substance of the notification in the concerned locality has to be given simultaneously or immediately, failing which the notification under Section 4 as a whole, as well as the subsequent acquisition proceedings, are illegal. On the other hand, Shri I.S. Tiwana, learned Deputy Advocate General questioned the correctness of the said contention and inter alia submitted that publication of the substance in the concerned locality could be done any time and that it would be from the date of the publication of the substance of the notification that a landowner would get a period of 30 days for filing objections u/s. 5-A of the Act. According to the learned Deputy Advocate General, the time for filing objections would not start from the date of the publication of the notification in the official Gazette, but from the date when publication of the substance of the notification has been made in the concerned locality.

5. To find out as to which contention has merit, the relevant provisions of the Act may be noticed:-

"4 (1) Whenever it appears to the appropriate Government that land in any locality is needed or is likely to be needed for any public purpose, a notification to that effect shall be published in the official Gazette, and the Collector shall cause public notice of the substance of such notification to be given at convenient places in the said locality.

5-A (1) Any person interested in any land which has been notified u/s. 4, sub-sec. (1), as being needed or likely to be needed for a public purpose or for a Company may, within thirty days after the issue of the notification, object to the acquisition of the land or of any land in the locality, as the case may be."

6. Under Sec. 4(1), it is contemplated that besides publication of the notification in the official Gazette, the Co