Compliance with statutory requirements for land acquisition is critical, but national interest may override individual objections when procedures are followed. The court upheld the legality of the acquisition for a defense project.

JUDGMENT :

Nupur Bhati, J.

1. The instant writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution claiming following relief(s):-

“A. the preliminary Notification dt 14.11.2023(Annex. 1), the decision of the objections required to be heard under Section 15 of the Act of 2013, the obligation of declaration dt 12.11.2024(Annex. 7) pursuant to section 19 (1) of the Act of 2013. the notice dt 11.08.2024, the award dt 25.07.2025 and the entire land acquisition proceedings may kindly be quashed and set aside.

B. the Respondents-Authorities may kindly be directed not to acquire the land of the petitioners pursuant to the aforesaid preliminary Notification dt 14.11.2023 and the exercise carried pursuant to the same and the land may, kindly be declared to be free from such acquisition proceedings.

C. Any other appropriate relief which this Hon'ble Court deems fit may also kindly be granted in favour of the petitioners.

D. Cost of the writ petition may kindly be awarded to the petitioners.”

2. Brief facts relevant for this case are that the petitioners have approached this Court seeking to quash the entirety of the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the authorities under The RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT ACT , 2013 ("the Act of 2013"), citing a sequence of mandatory statutory violations. The petitioners hold lands situated in Chak 21 SDS, Tehsil Sadulshahar, District Sri Ganganagar, which form the subject matter of the impugned acquisition proceedings. The cause of action for the instant writ petition emanates from the preliminary Notification dated 14.11.2023(Annex.1) issued by the Home (Group-9) Department, Government of Rajasthan, under Section 11 (1) of the Act of 2013 proposing acquisition of 130.349 hectares of private land in the aforesaid location alongside 2.476 hectares of government land for establishment works of the Forward Composite Aviation Base (‘FCAB’) under the Defence Estate Officer Circle Bikaner, Ministry of Defence(Annex.1). In pursuance of the procedural safeguards mandated under the Act of 2013, a prior Notification under Section 4(1) thereof was issued on 30.03.2022 for conducting the Social Impact Assessment (‘SIA’) Study, as referenced in the Notification dated 14.11.2023(Annex.1). The petitioners contend that the mandatory requirements for the SIA were flagrantly violated, as the authorities proceeded to issue the Preliminary Notification(Annex.1) under Section 11 (1) of the Act of 2013 on 14.11.2023 without conducting the requisite public hearing and without the involvement of the affected agriculturists. Furthermore, the preliminary Notification dated 14.11.2023(Annex.1) is challenged on the grounds that it was issued not within the statutory 12-month period from the appraisal of the SIA Report, with the authorities allegedly concealing the relevant date. Following this, the mandatory preliminary survey under Section 12 was entirely bypassed, and the hearing of objections under Section 15 was conducted in a cursory and mechanical manner, leading to the rejection of all objections without proper basis. A significant violation highlighted is the complete non-compliance with the provisions governing Rehabilitation and Resettlement (‘R&R’). Despite the appointment of the Divisional Commissioner