ASSOCIATES THROUGH ITS PARTNERversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ORS.

282                       [2019]
               SUPREME COURT     11 S.C.R. 282
                              REPORTS                     [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A             BALAJI ASSOCIATES THROUGH ITS PARTNER
                                        v.
                THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ORS.
                         (Civil Appeal No.6661 of 2019)
B                              AUGUST 27, 2019
          [N. V. RAMANA, MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR
                     AND AJAY RASTOGI, JJ.]
             Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966– s.127–
C     Appellant, a partnership firm and its partners are the joint owners
      of the disputed land situated in the municipal limits of Nagar
      Parishad of the city of Morshi – As per the final development plan
      for the city of Morshi, the appellant’s land was reserved for shopping
      centre and garden – Appellant served first notice, u/s.127 on
      13.07.15 asking the municipality to either acquire the disputed land
D     or permit them to develop the same– Appellant again on 31.08.15
      sent the second notice – Date of receipt of the second notice heavily
      contested – Respondent no.3 submitted proposal for acquisition of
      the disputed land before respondent no.4 (Collector), who informed
      that the proposal was not in order and the same needs to be
E     resubmitted – Fresh proposal submitted – However, nothing
      proceeded further and acquisition has not taken place till this point
      of time – Appellant filed writ petition for declaration that the
      reservation of their land has lapsed u/s.127– Dismissed – Held:
      Statutory provision is clear and categorical – s.127(1) mandates
      that for an owner whose land is reserved, allotted or designated, in
F     terms of final regional plan or developmental plan, needs to serve
      a notice to inform the municipality and seek its response concerning
      its interest in acquiring the land, if he wants his property to be de-
      reserved – Owners could de-reserve a plot of land by serving a
      notice, after the lapse of 10 years from the date of such reservation
G     i.e.10 years from 01.09.05 herein – Once such notice is served, the
      municipality has 24 months to acquire or take steps for acquisition
      of land – If municipality does not take the required measures, then
      the land would be de-reserved and the owner can develop the same
      – In the present case, reservation of the appellant’s land has lapsed
      and it has become available to the appellant to be developed –
H
                                       282
          BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                           283
                 STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Further, writ courts, usually, should not indulge themselves in factual   A
findings, however the present case has been dragged too long and
any further delay would unduly affect the right to enjoy property
and benefits thereof – This case turns on the aspect of admission
on the part of the respondents, that the second notice was received
on 02.09.15 – Second notice can be said to have reached the
                                                                          B
Municipality on 02.09.15, after the expiry of the stipulated period
– State Government directed to notify the lapsing of the reservation
by an order to be published in the Official Gazette as per the
requirements of s.127(2) which shall be done as expeditiously as
possible, preferably within 4 months from today.
                                                                          C
      Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966–
s.127(1), (2) – Plea of the respondents that the fulfilment of
requirements u/s.127 (1) does not automatically de-reserve the land,
rather it’s a discretion, under sub-s.2 of s.127, bestowed on the
Government to choose the land to be de-reserved and publish the
same in the Official Gazette – Held: Such mandatory reading of the        D
sub-sec. 2 of s.127, would give unfettered power in the hands of
the State to pick and choose – Supreme Court needs to effectively
balance the power of eminent domain and the constitutional right
of property, which mandates a rational reading of the law, wherein
the declaration in the Official Gazette is only consequential and         E
the State needs to follow, if the conditions under sub-sec.127 (1)
stands satisfied – Interpretation of Statutes.
      Allowing the appeal, the Court
       HELD: 1.1 The statutory provision is clear and categorical.
                                                                          F
Section 127 (1), Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act,
1966 mandates that for an owner whose land is reserved, allotted
or designated, in terms of final regional plan or developmental
plan, needs to serve a notice to inform the municipality and seek
its response concerning its interest in acquiring the land, if he
wants his property to be de-reserved. As provided under the               G
Section, the time limit to serve such notice accrues from the end
date of stipulated period of ten years. Once such notice is served,
the municipality has 24 months to acquire or take steps for
acquisition of land. If municipality does not take the required
measures in accordance with the aforesaid provision, then the             H
284           SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A     land would be de-reserved and the owner can develop the same
      in accordance with law. Under sub-section 2 of Section 127 of the
      Act, the Government is required to publish the de-reserved plots
      in the Official Gazette. It is the contention of the respondents
      that the second notice was pre-mature as the notice under Section
B     127 of the Act, is required to be served after completion of the
      stipulated time. They place their reliance on the acknowledgment
      signed by the Municipality, while receiving the post which records
      the event of receival as 01.09.2015. While the appellant rely on
      the Minutes of the meeting of the General Body, to point the
      factual discrepancy, wherein the letter is stated to have been
C     received only on 02.09.2015. The writ courts, usually, should not
      indulge themselves in such factual findings. However, this case
      has been dragged too long and any further delay would unduly
      affect the right to enjoy property and benefits thereof. In any
      case, this case turns on the aspect of admission on the part of the
D     respondents, that the second notice was received on 02.09.2015.
      The respondents have not denied that their own General Body
      Meeting Resolution has accepted that the date of receival was
      02.09.2015. In this context the same is needed to be accepted.
      The High Court has ignored the aforesaid aspect, to rely
      exclusively on the acknowledgment. In the afore-stated
E
      circumstances, reliance on the acknowledgment would not be
      safe. The second notice can be said to have reached the
      Municipality on 02.09.2015, after the expiry of the stipulated
      period. The time period of 24 months under Section 127 of the
      Act, given to the municipal authorities, was increased from 6
F     months to 12 months by an Amending Act in 2009 (Mah. Act No.
      16 of 2009); further, this time period was increased from 12
      months to 24 months in 2015 (Mah. Act No. 42 of 2015 w.e.f
      29.08.2015). From the aforesaid amendments, it can be noted
      that the legislative intent was to provide sufficient time for the
G     Municipalities to acquire the land as per the Developmental Plan
      needed for effective town planning. In any case, the respondents
      herein have admitted that the fresh proposal was forwarded from
      the office of respondent no. 3 on 16.12.2016, and the same is
      currently being processed through the Office of Land Acquisition
      Officer, Amaravati. The appellant has been denied its right to
H
         BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                         285
                STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

enjoy benefits of its possession by this protracted litigation. Mere   A
forwarding of the proposal, would not be sufficient under Section
127 (1) of the Act, as the concerned provision distinguishes
between ‘step of acquisition of land’ from ‘step for acquisition of
land’. The authorities have not taken sufficient steps towards
acquisition in this case. As the 24 months’ time period stipulated     B
under the law has elapsed, therefore the necessary procedures
under Section 127 (1) of the Act, stand satisfied for de-reserving
the disputed land. The respondents have finally argued that the
fulfilment of requirements under Section 127 (1) of the Act does
not automatically de-reserve the land, rather it’s a discretion,
under sub-section 2 of Section 127 of the Act, bestowed on the         C
Government to choose the land to be de-reserved and publish
the same in the Official Gazette. Such mandatory reading of the
sub-section 2 of Section 127 of the Act, would give unfettered
power in the hands of the State to pick and choose. This Court
needs to effectively balance the power of eminent domain and           D
the constitutional right of property, which mandates a rational
reading of the law, wherein the declaration in the Official Gazette
is only consequential and the State needs to follow, if the
conditions under sub-section 127 (1) stands satisfied. The usage
of ‘On lapsing of reservation, allocation or designation of any land
                                                                       E
under sub-section (1)’ in the sub-section 2 of Section 127, clearly
points towards the aforesaid interpretation. Moreover, the usage
of ‘shall’, also indicates the imperative nature of the sub-section,
which makes the Government duty bound to publish the same.
[Labour Commr. M. P. v. Burhanpur Tapti Mill Ltd. & Ors., AIR
1964 SC 1687] In this case, the requirement under Section 127          F
(1) are fully satisfied. [Paras 13-19] [290-F-H; 291-A-H; 292-A-
B; 293-D-H]
      1.2 The reservation of the appellant’s land in question has
lapsed and the land has become available to the appellant to be
developed as otherwise permissible. The State Government is            G
directed to notify the lapsing of the reservation by an order to be
published in the Official Gazette as per the requirements of
Section 127(2) of the Act which shall be done as expeditiously as
possible and preferably within a period of 4 months from today.
[Para 21] [294-C]                                                      H
286            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A           Shrirampur Municipal Council, Shrirampur vs.
            Satyabhamabai Bhimaji Dawkher and Ors. (2013) 5
            SCC 627 : [2013] 2 SCR 664 – relied on.
            Labour Commr. M. P. v. Burhanpur Tapti Mill Ltd. &
            Ors. AIR 1964 SC 1687 : AIR 1964 SC 1687 – referred
B           to.
                              Case Law Reference
      [2013] 2 SCR 664                 relied on               Para 18
      1964 AIR SC 1687                 referred to             Para 19
C           CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 6661
      of 2019.
            From the Judgment and Order dated 05.02.2018 of the High Court
      of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Nagpur, Nagpur in Writ Petition No.
      5969/2017
D           Gagan Sanghi and Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, Advs. for the
      Appellants.
            Nishant Ramakantrao Katneshwarkar, Mithilesh Kumar Pandey,
      Satyajit A. Desai, Ms. Anagha S. Desai and Shobhit Dwivedi, Advs. for
      the Respondents.
E           The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
            N. V. RAMANA, J.
            1. Leave granted.
            2. This appeal, by way of special leave, was filed against the
      impugned final judgment and order dated 05.02.2018 in W.P. No. 5969
F     of 2017, passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay (Nagpur
      Bench).
             3. The brief facts which are necessary for the disposal of this
      case are that the appellant is a partnership firm and its partners are the
      joint owners of the land in the Survey No.7 Sub-division No.2, for a land
G     admeasuring 3H 90R of Mouja Durgavada, Tq.Morshi, District Amravati,
      situated in the municipal limits of Nagar Parishad of the city of Morshi
      [hereinafter referred to as the “disputed land”]. The final development
      plan for the city of Morshi was published on 11.07.2005 which came into
      force from 01.09.2005. In the aforesaid plan the appellant’s land was
      reserved for shopping centre and garden, by reservation no. 22 and 23
H     respectively.
          BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                               287
        STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [N. V. RAMANA, J.]

      4. Under Section 127 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning          A
Act, 1966 [hereinafter referred to as “the Act”], the owners could de-
reserve a plot of land by serving a notice, after the lapse of 10 years
from the date of such reservation i.e., 10 years from 01.09.2005 herein.
       5. Accordingly, the appellant served the first notice, under Section
127 of the Act, on 13.07.2015 asking the municipality to either acquire       B
the disputed land or permit them to develop the same in accordance with
law. The aforesaid first notice was replied as being pre-mature. Moreover,
the appellant again on 31.08.2015 sent the second notice under Section
127 of the Act. At the outset we may note that the date of receival of the
second notice is heavily contested, being important we shall take up the
same in due course.                                                           C

       6. Thereafter on 22.09.2015, respondent no. 2 directed respondent
no. 3 to initiate the procedure required for acquisition of disputed land.
On 30.11.2015 there was a General Body Meeting of the Municipal
Council/Nagar Parishad, Morshi wherein it was decided that the disputed
land was required for development of garden/park and necessary                D
acquisition needs to be undertaken. For our purposes we need to observe
the minutes of the meeting which is as under-
      As per Section 27 MRTP Act 1966, Survey no. 7 of Mouja
      Durgavada Tq. Morshi, District Amravati reserved for Reservation
      no. 22 Shopping Centre and 23 Garden as per development Plan            E
      (Excluded Plan) of Morshi City a discussion on the received notice
      is done in the standing committee meeting of Nagar Parishad
      Morshi.
      In this matter, Adv. G.K. Mundhada, Khaparde Garden
      issued a notice under Section 127 of MRTP Act, 1966 which               F
      has inward number 5081 on Dt. 14/07/2015 and Inward no.
      57 on Dt. 2/9/2015 in Nagar Parishad Office inward record
      register.
      …
                                                                              G
      Finally, in this meeting after discussion it is decided that the said
      land is required by the Nagar Parishad. Hence proposal for land
      acquisition is to be presented in front of Collector Amravati. Also,
      the expenditure for said land should be done as per the Government
      defined guidelines of 13th Finance Commission and 14th Finance
      commission.                                                             H
288             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A            Hence the standing committee is giving approval in majority for
             all the expenses to be incurred in future for acquisition of the said
             land.
             Resolution approved by Majority.
                                                           (Emphasis supplied)
B
             7. Further on 14.01.2016, respondent no. 3 submitted a proposal
      for acquisition of the disputed land before the respondent no. 4 (Collector),
      on the basis of the resolution passed on 30.11.2015. However, respondent
      no. 4 informed respondent no. 3 that the aforesaid proposal was not in
      order and the same needs to be resubmitted. A fresh proposal was
C     submitted by respondent no. 3, by letter dated 16.12.2016. It is brought
      to our attention that nothing has proceeded further and accordingly,
      acquisition has not taken place till this point of time.
              8. Aggrieved by the fact that appellant was not allowed to enjoy
      the benefit of its ownership in the aforesaid disputed land, appellant through
D
      its partners filed a Writ Petition praying therein for a declaration that the
      reservation of their land has lapsed under Section 127 of the Act and
      other consequential relief.
             9. The High Court by order dated 05.02.2018 dismissed the
      impugned writ petition on two major premises. First, the High Court was
E
      of the opinion that the second notice was sent prematurely thereby the
      necessary procedures required under Section 127 of the Act for de-
      reserving the land were not satisfied. Second, as the second notice dated
      31.08.2015 was not satisfactory, therefore there was no need for further
      elaboration on steps, taken for acquiring the land, to be followed by the
F     municipality as required under Section 127 (1) and (2) of the Act.
            10. Aggrieved by the aforesaid dismissal, the appellant has
      approached this Court.
             11. Having observed the facts, we need to briefly notice the
      appellant’s contention herein. Appellant contends that the second notice
G
      dated 31.08.2015 was received by the respondent authorities only on
      02.09.2015 and not on 01.09.2015. Appellant rely extensively on the
      minutes of the meeting which records the aforesaid fact and claims that
      their notice was not premature. Further, the appellant contends that the
      concerned authorities have not taken adequate steps to acquire the
H     aforesaid land in accordance with the mandate provided under Section
          BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                                289
        STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [N. V. RAMANA, J.]

127 of the Act which consequentially entails de-reserving the aforesaid        A
land.
       12. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondents
contend that on reading of the provisions of Section 127 (1) of the Act it
is clear that, an owner or a person interested in the land would be entitled
to serve a notice only after completion of the period of 10 years from the     B
date on which the Final Developmental Plan comes into force. In this
case, since the Final Developmental Plan had come into force on
01.09.2005, the notice dt. 31.08.2015 is served on the respondent no. 3
before the completion of the stipulated period of 10 years from the date
of coming into force of the Final Developmental Plan. Therefore, they
contend that the High Court has rightly observed the period of 10 years,       C
as mentioned in the aforesaid provision of Section 127 of the Act, is
finally yet to complete before service of notice under Section 127 and
hence the said notice under Section 127 issued by the appellant on
respondent no. 3 (Municipal Council, Morshi) would be treated as
premature. Also, the respondent no. 3 has submitted a land acquisition         D
proposal to the respondent no. 4. Hence, they argue that the High Court
has passed order to safeguard the interest of general public at large and
has thoroughly and judiciously stated that the provision for lapsing does
not become a tool to defeat the very purpose of the Act.
       13. Having heard the arguments, we need to observe Section 127          E
of the Act, which reads as under-
      127. Lapsing of reservations.- 309[(1) If any land reserved,
      allotted or designated for any purpose specified in any plan under
      this Act is not acquired by agreement within ten years from the
      date on which a final Regional plan, or final Development plan           F
      comes into force 310[or, if a declaration under sub-section (2) or
      (4) of section 126 is not published in the Official Gazette within
      such period, the owner or any person interested in the land may
      serve notice, alongwith the documents showing his title or interest
      in the said land, on the Planning Authority, the Development
      authority or, as the case may be, the Appropriate Authority to that      G
      effect; and if within 311[twenty-four months]] from the date of
      the service of such notice, the land is not acquired or no steps as
      aforesaid are commenced for its acquisition, the reservation,
      allotment or designation shall be deemed to have lapsed, and
      thereupon the land shall be deemed to be released from such              H
290               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A           reservation, allotment or designation and shall become available
            to the owner for the purpose of development as otherwise,
            permissible in the case of adjacent land under the relevant plan.
            312
              [(2) on lapsing of reservation, allocation or designation of any
            land under sub-section (1), the Government shall notify the same,
B           by an order published in the Official Gazette.]


            309 Section 127 re-numbered as sub-section (1) by Mah. Act
            No.16 of 2009, dated 25th June, 2009.
C           310 Substituted for “or if proceedings for the acquisition of such
            land under this Act or under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of
            1894), are not commenced within such period, the owner or any
            person interested in the land may serve notice on the Planning
            Authority, Development Authority or as the case may be,
D           Appropriate Authority to that effect; and if within six months” by
            Mah. Act No.16 of 2009, dated 25th June, 2009.
            311 Substituted for “twelve months” by the Maharashtra
            Regional and Town Planning (Third Amendment) Act, 2015
            (Mah. Act No.42 of 2015), dated 31-12-2015 (w.e.f. 29-08-
E           2015), s.7.
            312 Sub-Section (2) added by Mah. Act No.16 of 2009, dated
            25th June, 2009.
             The statutory provision is clear and categorical. Section 127 (1),
      mandates that for an owner whose land is reserved, allotted or designated,
F
      in terms of final regional plan or developmental plan, needs to serve a
      notice to inform the municipality and seek its response concerning its
      interest in acquiring the land, if he wants his property to be de-reserved.
      As provided under the Section, the time limit to serve such notice accrues
      from the end date of stipulated period of ten years. Once such notice is
G     served, the municipality has 24 months to acquire or take steps for
      acquisition of land. If municipality does not take the required measures
      in accordance with the aforesaid provision, then the land would be de-
      reserved and the owner can develop the same in accordance with law.
      Under sub-section 2 of Section 127 of the Act, the Government is required
H     to publish the de-reserved plots in the Official Gazette.
          BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                               291
        STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [N. V. RAMANA, J.]

       14. It is the contention of the respondents that the second notice     A
was pre-mature as the notice under Section 127 of the Act, is required
to be served after completion of the stipulated time. They place their
reliance on the acknowledgment signed by the Municipality, while
receiving the post which records the event of receival as 01.09.2015.
While the appellant rely on the Minutes of the meeting of the General
                                                                              B
Body, to point the factual discrepancy, wherein the letter is stated to
have been received only on 02.09.2015.
       15. In our considered opinion, the writ courts, usually, should not
indulge themselves in such factual findings. However, this case has been
dragged too long and any further delay would unduly affect the right to
enjoy property and benefits thereof. In any case, this case turns on the      C
aspect of admission on the part of the respondents, that the second notice
was received on 02.09.2015. There is no gain saying that the respondents
have not denied that their own General Body Meeting Resolution has
accepted that the date of receival was 02.09.2015. In this context we
need to accept the same. We may note that the High Court has ignored          D
the aforesaid aspect, to rely exclusively on the acknowledgment. In the
afore-stated circumstances, reliance on the acknowledgment would not
be safe. Having come to this understanding, we can conclude that the
second notice can be said to have reached the Municipality on 02.09.2015,
after the expiry of the stipulated period.
                                                                              E
       16. Having decided the first aspect, we need to now turn our
attention to a different aspect under Section 127 (1) of the Act, regarding
the satisfaction of the actions undertaken by the Municipality, to acquire
or steps taken for acquiring, within the stipulated period of 24 months
from the service of notice. We may note that the aforesaid time period
of 24 months under Section 127 of the Act, given to the municipal             F
authorities, was increased from 6 months to 12 months by an Amending
Act in 2009 (Mah. Act No. 16 of 2009); further, this time period was
increased from 12 months to 24 months in 2015 (Mah. Act No. 42 of
2015 w.e.f 29.08.2015). From the aforesaid amendments, it can be noted
that the legislative intent was to provide sufficient time for the            G
Municipalities to acquire the land as per the Developmental Plan needed
for effective town planning.
      17. In any case, the respondents herein have admitted that the
fresh proposal was forwarded from the office of respondent no. 3 on
16.12.2016, and the same is currently being processed through the Office      H
292            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A     of Land Acquisition Officer, Amaravati. From the aforesaid narration,
      there is no gain saying that the appellant has been denied its right to
      enjoy benefits of its possession by this protracted litigation. Mere
      forwarding of the proposal, would not be sufficient under Section 127
      (1) of the Act, as the concerned provision distinguishes between ‘step of
      acquisition of land’ from ‘step for acquisition of land’.
B
             18. In this context, we may refer to the case of Shrirampur
      Municipal Council, Shrirampur vs. Satyabhamabai Bhimaji
      Dawkher and Ors., 2013 (5) SCC 627, wherein a three Judge Bench
      of this Court has observed that-
C           42. We are further of the view that the majority in Girnar
            Traders (2) 1 had rightly observed that steps towards the
            acquisition would really commence when the State
            Government takes active steps for the acquisition of the
            particular piece of land which leads to publication of the
            declaration under Section 6 of the 1894 Act. Any other
D           interpretation of the scheme of Sections 126 and 127 of the 1966
            Act will make the provisions wholly unworkable and leave the
            landowner at the mercy of the Planning Authority and the State
            Government.
            43. The expression “no steps as aforesaid” used in Section
E           127 of the 1966 Act has to be read in the context of the
            provisions of the 1894 Act and mere passing of a resolution
            by the Planning Authority or sending of a letter to the
            Collector or even the State Government cannot be treated
            as commencement of the proceedings for the acquisition
F           of land under the 1966 Act or the 1894 Act. By enacting
            Sections 125 to 127 of the 1966 Act, the State Legislature has
            made a definite departure from the scheme of acquisition enshrined
            in the 1894 Act. But a holistic reading of these provisions makes
            it clear that while engrafting the substance of some of the
            provisions of the 1894 Act in the 1966 Act and leaving out other
G           provisions, the State Legislature has ensured that the landowners/
            other interested persons, whose land is utilized for execution of
            the Development plan/Town Planning Scheme, etc., are not left
            high and dry. This is the reason why time limit of ten years has
            been prescribed in Section 31(5) and also under Sections 126 and
H           127 of the 1966 Act for the acquisition of land, with a stipulation
          BALAJI ASSOCIATES THR. ITS PARTNER v.                                 293
        STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [N. V. RAMANA, J.]

       that if the land is not acquired within six months of the service of     A
       notice under Section 127 or steps are not commenced for
       acquisition, reservation of the land will be deemed to have lapsed.
       Shri Naphade’s interpretation of the scheme of Sections 126 and
       127, if accepted, will lead to absurd results and the landowners
       will be deprived of their right to use the property for an indefinite
                                                                                B
       period without being paid compensation. That would tantamount
       to depriving the citizens of their property without the sanction of
       law and would result in violation of Article 300A of the Constitution.

       1. Girnar Traders (2) v. State of Maharashtra, (2007) 7 SCC 555
                                                                                C
                                                         (emphasis supplied)
       In line with the observations of this Court, we hold that the
authorities have not taken sufficient steps towards acquisition in this
case. As the 24 months’ time period stipulated under the law has elapsed,
therefore the necessary procedures under Section 127 (1) of the Act,            D
stand satisfied for de-reserving the disputed land.
       19. The respondents have finally argued that the fulfilment of
requirements under Section 127 (1) of the Act does not automatically
de-reserve the land, rather it’s a discretion, under sub-section 2 of Section
127 of the Act, bestowed on the Government to choose the land to be             E
de-reserved and publish the same in the Official Gazette. Such mandatory
reading of the sub-section 2 of Section 127 of the Act, would give
unfettered power in the hands of the State to pick and choose. This
Court needs to effectively balance the power of eminent domain and the
constitutional right of property, which mandates a rational reading of the      F
law, wherein the declaration in the Official Gazette is only consequential
and the State needs to follow, if the conditions under sub-section 127 (1)
stands satisfied. The usage of ‘On lapsing of reservation, allocation
or designation of any land under sub-section (1)’ in the sub-section
2 of Section 127, clearly points towards the aforesaid interpretation.
                                                                                G
Moreover, the usage of ‘shall’, also indicates the imperative nature of
the sub-section, which makes the Government duty bound to publish the
same. [refer Labour Commr. M. P. v. Burhanpur Tapti Mill Ltd. &
Ors., AIR 1964 SC 1687] In this case, we are of the opinion that the
requirement under Section 127 (1) are fully satisfied.
                                                                                H
294              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2019] 11 S.C.R.


A            20. Our attention has been drawn to certain adverse remarks
      passed by the High Court against the advocate, who appeared before it
      for the appellant herein, as contained in line numbers 1 to 7 and 76 to 79
      of paragraph 5 of the impugned judgment. In our considered opinion,
      such adverse remarks were uncalled for, un-necessary and therefore,
      the same stand expunged from the record.
B
             21. In the light of the aforesaid observations, the inevitable
      conclusion is that the reservation of the appellant’s land in question has
      lapsed and the land has become available to the appellant to be developed
      as otherwise permissible. Appeal, therefore deserves to be allowed and
      is accordingly allowed in terms of prayer. The State Government is
C     directed to notify the lapsing of the reservation by an order to be published
      in the Official Gazette as per the requirements of Section 127(2) of the
      Act which shall be done as expeditiously as possible and preferably
      within a period of 4 months from today.
               22. Appeal stands allowed in the above said terms. No order as to
D     costs.

      Divya Pandey                                                   Appeal allowed.



E




F




G




H