Summit Inport Services Ltd. & Anr v. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation & Ors

T.S. THAKUR, J.

ARUNA SURESH, J. APRIL 11, 2008 manish

THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI DATE OF DECISION : 11.04.2008 + W.P.(C) 573/2008 SUMMIT INPORT SERVICES LTD. & ANR. ..... Petitioners Through Mr. Arun Jaitley, Sr. Adv. with Mr. P.D. Gupta, Mr. Kamal Gupta, Abhishek Gupta, advs. versus DELHI METRO RAIL CORPORATION & ORS .... Respondents Through Mr. V.K. Shali, adv. for DMRC Mr. Sanjay Poddar, adv. with Mr. Ramesh Ray, Mr. H.P. Sahu, advs. for LAC + W.P.(C) 716/2008 NEERA JAIN ..... Petitioner Through Mr. Arun Jaitley, Sr. Adv. with Mr. P.D. Gupta, Mr. Kamal Gupta, Abhishek Gupta, advs. versus DELHI METRO RAIL CORPORATION & ORS. ..... Respondents Through Mr. V.K. Shali, adv. for DMRC Mr. Sanjay Poddar, adv. with Mr. Ramesh Ray, Mr. H.P. Sahu, advs. for LAC + W.P.(C) 802/2008 SULTANPUR FARMS WELFARE ASSOCIATION..... Petitioner Through Mr. Ravinder Sethi, Sr. adv. with Mr. Rajat Aneja, Mr. Neeraj Grover, advs. versus DELHI METRO RAIL CORPORATION & ORS. ..... Respondents Through Mr. V.K. Shali, adv. for DMRC Mr. Sanjay Poddar, adv. with Mr. Ramesh Ray, Mr. H.P. Sahu, advs. for LAC CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.S. THAKUR HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE ARUNA SURESH 1Whether reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?YES 2To be referred to the Reporter or not?YES 3Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?YES Per Thakur, J. In these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have assailed the validity of a notification dated 10.08.07 issued under Sections 4, 17(1) and 17(4) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 proposing to acquire an area measuring 16468.76 square metres comprising different survey numbers mentioned in the said notification situate in Village Sultanpur of Delhi. A declaration dated 1st November, 2007 issued under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in relation to the said land has also been assailed. 2. The petitioners are owners of different parcels of land situate in different survey numbers of village Sultanpur, Tehsil Hauz Khas, New Delhi. An area measuring 16468.76 from out of the said survey numbers was requisitioned by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for construction of its Depot at Ghitorni in connection with what is known as "Qutub Minar-Gurgaon Corridor Delhi MRTS Project Phase-II". Upon consideration of the said requirement of the Corporation, the Lieutenant Governor issued a notification dated 10.08.07 under Section 4(1) readwith Sections 17(1) and (4) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 proposing to acquire the aforementioned extent of land for the public purpose referred to above. This was followed by Declarations dated 01.11.07 under Section 6 of the Act, in respect of the aforementioned extent of the land and the residential buildings constructed over the same. By another notification of even date, the Land Acquisition Collector was directed to take the possession of the aforesaid land and residential properties belonging to the petitioners at the end of 15 days of publication of notice under Section 9(1) of the Act. Aggrieved, the petitioners have assailed the said notifications in the present writ petitions, as already indicated above. 3. Appearing for the petitioners, Mr. Arun Jaitley, learned senior counsel argued that the impugned notification, to the extent the same invoked the emergency provisions under Section 17(1) and dispensed with the hearing of objections under Section 5-A of the Act, was illegal. He urged that the proposal for acquisition of the land in question had been sent by the Corporation on 19.3.2007 but a notification based on the said proposal was issued only 5 months later, i.e., on 10.08.07. He further argued that even the declaration under Section 6 of the Act was also delayed by nearly 3 months and issued only on 1st November, 2007. This according to Mr. Jaitley, implied that the authorities were taking their own time in proceeding with the proposed acquisition of land and there was in reality no urgency in the same so as to justify dispensing with the hearing of obje