WRIT PETITION 9502 of 2006 on 26 May 1976

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANAAT CHANDIGARH

Civil Writ Petition No. 9502 of 2006Date of decision: 19[th] April, 2011

Gram Panchayat Dunda Hera, Distt. Gurgaon

..........Petitioner

Versus

State of Haryana and others

..........Respondents

CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASBIR SINGHHON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR GARG

Present:Mr. G.S.Dhaliwal, Advocate for Mr. M.L.Sharma, Advocate for the petitioners.

Mr. Kamal Sehgal, Addl.A.G.Haryana,for the respondent-State.

Jasbir Singh,J.(Oral)

The petitioner-Gram Panchayat Dunda Hera, Distt. Gurgaonnow has ceased to exist because during the pendency of this writpetition, area of that village has been included within the limits ofMunicipal Corporation, Gurgaon.

This writ petition has been filed with a prayer to quash thenotifications issued under Sections 4 and 6 of the Land AcquisitionAct, 1887(hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') on 26.05.1976 and27.05.1976 respectively and award No. 17 passed on 25.08.1976.Further, prayer has been made that a writ of mandamus be issued todirect the respondents to level the land which has been provided as an alternative for the cremation ground/a grave-yard.

It is an admitted fact that the land was acquired for apublic purpose, namely for development and utilisation of land forindustrial area in that village. The acquisition become final when anaward was passed in the year 1976. This writ petition was filed after 20years of passing of the award. No explanation is coming out for notfiling the writ petition at an early stage of time. As per the admittedfacts, cremation ground/a grave-yard is situated in Khasra No. 111measuring 44 kanals and 10 marlas. In the award regardingcompensation for the land in dispute it was observed as under:- “Mode of Payment:

The payment will be made to the landowners and other interested persons according totheir shares as entered in the latest record of therights (jamabandi for the year 1969-70) andamended to the extent of sanctioned mutationsthereafter.

However, the payment for field number

111 measuring 44 kanals 10 marlas and being usedas cremation ground by the village populace,assessed at the rate of Rs. 5800/- per acre vide thisaward, will not be made in cash and instead land ofequal value would be provided for this purpose outof the area acquired in this village earlier to theGram Panchayat. The owner of the aforesaid field number, in accordance with the decision taken bythe Government in this behalf on the request of thevillagers/Gram Panchayat.”

It was further stated that possession of the land may beobtained after pronouncement of the award.

To the notice issued, reply has been filed wherein it hasbeen stated as under:- “That the Land Acquisition Collector at thetime of giving his award no. 17 of 25.08.1976 hadobserved that the payment for field No. 111measuring 44 kanals 10 Marlas which was beingused as cremation ground by the village populacewill not be made in cash and instead land of equalvalue would be provided for this purpose to thepetitioner, the owner of the aforesaid field number,in accordance with the decision taken by theGovernment in this behalf on the request of thepetitioner.

An alternative piece of land in lieu of landunder field No. 111, in fact, was to be given to thepetitioner by Haryana Urban DevelopmentAuthority because land for development ofIndustrial Complex thereon was acquired byHaryana Urban Development Authority and wassubsequently transferred to the Corporation.Accordingly, Haryana Urban Development

Authority offered 44 Kanals 10 Marlas of the landto the petitioner just opposite the land under fieldNo. 111. However, this land was not acceptable tothe petitioner due to a deep Nallah running thereon.The Corporation, as a gesture of goodwillconstructed a shed, two platforms, a boundary wallwith gate, and also provided water connection, overthe site offered by Haryana Urban DevelopmentAuthority to the petitioner. The shed structure isstill existing at the site but the residents of villageDundahera are not utilising this facility. However,to resolve the issue the Corporation offered to thepetitioner another piece of land duly levelled whichalso included the 1000 sq. mtr. Plot with shed,platform and boundary wall etc. constructed at siteoffered by Haryana Urban Development Authority,but the petitioner did not agree to accept thisalternative place of land offered by Corporationalso with out any cogent reasons.”

It is stated by the counsel for the parties that a largeportion of the land is being used by the truck union for parking of thetrucks, if vacated, the respondents are ready to possess that land toutilise it for the public purpose for which it was acquired.

In view of the facts that the acquisition has become final, Gram Panchayat is no more in existence and an alternative site forcremation ground/a grave-yard has already been provided, nothing Civil Writ Petition No. 9502 of 2006

remains to be done in this case. As such, this writ petition is dismissed.However, it is made clear that in case, in the near vicinity of villageDunda Hera, a land for cremation ground/a grave-yard has not beenprovided, it should suitably be provided for the same. The land be gotvacated from unauthorised occupants and it be utilised for a properuse.

[JASBIR SINGH] JUDGE

18[th] April, 2011Shivani Kaushik

[RAKESH KUMAR GARG]JUDGE