AIR 1980 BOMBAY 221 ::(1980) Mah LJ 133

Bombay High Court

Hon'ble Judge(s): Pratap, Sharad Manohar , JJ

(A) Land Acquisition Act (1 of 1894) , S.17(4), S.5A— Urgency clause - In invoking urgency clause State should act with care and responsibility. That a given purpose is laudable is not by itself sufficient to vindicate the application of urgency clause so as to obviate even the minimal requirement of a hearing. Purpose such as providing house sites or extension of gaothan cannot be said to spring into existence overnight unless, of course, it is a result of some unexpected, exceptional or extraordinary situation or development such as, for instance, an earthquake or flood or some specific clear-cut time-bound project likely to be rendered ipso facto nugatory and infructuous by even such lapse of time as would occur in the case of an acquisition without the urgency clause. While applying the urgency clause, the State should, indeed, act with considerable care and responsibility.(Para 5) Application of urgency clause cannot be a substitute for the laxity on the part of the State administration in expeditiously initiating acquisition proceedings Nor can it be invoked to make up for the delay caused only because of the lethargy on the part of the administration.(Para 6) (B) Land Acquisition Act (1 of 1894) , S.17(4)— Application of urgency clause - Decisio....