Holding

A Section 4(1) notification is void unless both the Gazette publication and the public notice of its substance in the locality are complied with, and an acquisition exercised for extraneous or irrelevant purposes is vitiated by legal malafides.

Summary

Raja Ram Jaiswal purchased land (Plot No. 26) to build a cinema theatre. The Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, opposing the cinema, sought acquisition of the same land for the purported public purpose of extending its Sangrahalaya, leading to a notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The notification was later corrected by a corrigendum, but the substance of the notification was never published in the locality as required by the Act. The Supreme Court held that non‑compliance with the mandatory public‑notice requirement renders the notification void, and that the acquisition was motivated by extraneous considerations, constituting legal malafides. Consequently, the Collector's appeal was dismissed and the petition challenging the notification was partly allowed, quashing the acquisition proceedings.

Issues considered

The validity of a Section 4(1) notification where the substance is not published in the locality.
Whether the acquisition was for a genuine public purpose or was motivated by malafides.
Whether non‑compliance with Rule 4 of the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963 invalidates the notification.
The necessity of impleading the party alleging malafides (the Sammelan) in the writ petition.

Legislation cited

Land Acquisition Act, 1894s. 17(4), s. 4(1), s. 5A
Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963s. Rule 4
Societies Registration Act
U.P. Amendment and Validation Act, 1974s. Section 4 (as amended)
U.P. Cinematograph Rules, 1951s. Rule 3, s. Rule 7(2)
U.P. Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Act, 1956

Subjects

Land acquisitionSection 4 notificationPublic purposeLegal malafidesPublic notice requirementProcedural complianceStatutory interpretationAcquisition for company

Judgment

995
. ., A
·/.l

THE COLLECTOR (DISTT. MAGISTRATE)
ALLAHABAD AND ANR.

v.
B
RAJA RAM JAISWAL ETC.

April 29, 1985

_, (D.A. DESAI AND V. BALAKRISHNA ERADI, JJ,)
c
Land Acquisition Act, 1894 section 4 (J), scope of-Acquisilion of Land for
public purpose-Whether notification In the official gazette and causing public
notice of the substance of such notification the. need of a ·rand for a public pur-
pose, mandatory-Concept of pfejudice-Wlrere in a case, objections have been filed
to the· acquisirion proceedings, pursuant to an earlier notification whether non
publication and non notification of its substance in ihe locality and of a corrigendum
thereof issued later would still vitiate the proceedingS under section 4 (/)-Effect of D
the world "shall" in section 4 (I)-When malafideS are attributed, imp/eading of

explained.
,,,
the proper party· effected thereby' is obligatory-Ma/afides-Legal ma/afides.

Raja Ram Jaiswa1 along with the mC'inbers of his family purchased land
bearing. p!Ot No. 26 with a building thereon admeasuring 2978 sq, yds. situated
at K.P. Kakkar Road in Mclrch 1970. The plan for a sound proof air-condition .. E
ed cinema. theatre on the said plot subrriitted by hifn was sanctioned both by the
District Magistrate and the local Municipality in December, 1970 and thereafter
he applied for a certificate of approval under Rule 3 read with Rule 7 (2) of the
U.P. Cinematograph Rules, 1951 for construction of a Cinema theatre.

The Hi~di Sabit:Ya Sammelan which _was initiaily formed a~ a voluntary F
organisation in 1910 and r<!gistered as a society under the Societies. Registr'ation
Act on January 8, 1914 retaining the same naine had earlier acquired and taken
possession from t~e Allahabad Municipal Board land admeasuring 7315 sq. yds.
and in which a municipal school was located for purpose of building "Sangraha ..
laya" or a museum-cum.library-cum-reading room. However no museUm
has come up and the land Hes vacant. This Sammelan raised objec·tions
to the grant of a permit for the constructions of the cinema theatre as in its view G
a theatre and a research cum study centre can go ill-together. Overruling the
objections, the District Magistrate, the Licensing Authority urider the U.P.
Cinema (Regulation) Act, 1955 granted the requisite certificate of approval, on
March 24, 1972, under RUie 3 which would .in law imply that having regard to
the provisions of the 1955 Act, and 1951 Rules, there was no legal impedirRent
to the construction of a cinerna theatre on plot No. 26. Having failed to thwi:trt
the gr~nt of certific~te of approv.~1, t~e S~mmelan wrot~ a letter on Octobei 13J
996 SUPREMB COURT RBRORTS (1985] 3 S.C.R.
A 1971 fOr acquiring land bearing plot No. 26 admcasuring approic.imately 286S
sq. yds. on the ground that' it was Deeded for a public purpose namely for
exlension of Hindi Sangrahalaya of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Prayag. This
Notification was publi'ihed in the U.P. Government Gazette on February ",
19_74. A notice under section 4 (1) bearing the same dafe was served upon' the
petitioner as also the snme was published in the locality,' the petitioner challeng·
ed the val..idity of the notification on diverse grounds in Writ Petition No,
' B 1932(74 and obtained interim stay. of taking over possession.

·.In the meantime, by Notification dated February r, 1975, the earlier Noti·
fication dated January 31, 1974 was cancelled and a fresh Notification was
issued to acquire uland bearing No. 62 admeasuring 8265 sq. yds." and published

,,,
in the lJ.P .. Gar:ette on February 15,'"1975. Consequently .Writ Petition No.
c 1932174 was JZot dismis,.ed a" !nfructuou1:. A notice dated March 6, 1975 under
~ection 5 A of the Land Acquisition Act wa'i served upon the petitioner inviting .
. him t6 file his objections, if any. The" petitioner filed detailed objections .on
March 8, 1975 inter Olia contending that the acquisition is for a complilly_ 1,and
the pre-requisite for acquisition for a company having not been carried out, the
· ar.quisition is bad in law. It was also contended that the petitioner. is tiot the
owner or plot No. fi2 ad measuring 8265 sq. yds. Promptly on March., 13, 1975,
D a. corringendum was issued and publ.ished. in- the Gazette on March 22",;·1975
correcting the notification dated. February 6, ~975 to read that, instead of,, plot
No. 62 Plot, No. 26 be read and instead of area >265 sq. yds., 2865 sq. YdS. be
. read. The substance of Gazette the notifications dated 15.1.1975 March 2?r ..\975
were not published in the Jocalit~s.required under section 4 (t). In between the
issue of the notification and the ~~rrigendum, the petitioner filed _Writ Petition
3174/75 questioning the .validity ~f~·the notification dated February 6, .1975 and
E duly a1nending the grounds after issue of. the corrigendum. The High. Court
negatived the challenges nemely, (a) that the Notification. was bad .for non-
compliance flrnt with the provi~ions of the L1nd Acquisition (CompariieS) RUleS,
. 1963; anJ' (b) that the acqui'iition proceedings are malafide but quashe,ct'.the
in1pugned notification on the ground of failure to cause public noti~e;· of ,the
Substance of Notification under section 4 (l} to be published is the locality.
Hence the State appeal (CA No. 2458/80) by spe:ial leave and the Special Leave
F Petitio.n No. 9019/80 by Raja Ram.

Dismissing the State ai)peal and allowing in part the Special Leave
· Petition, the Court,

. HELD : l. When the ~validity of a Notification is questioned on -.the
ground of nialafides, proper parties affected by such an allegation must be
,G impleaded in the petition. In this case. Samme!an's application for iOterVeO'iion ·
under Order XX Rule 3 of the Supreme Court. Rules 1965 must be- granted
, thoi.lgh the Sam me Ian has not moved this Court against the High· Court's order
rejecting the application for ilnpleading. [1004D~EJ

2.1 rt is true that ordinarily courts do not interfere at the stage· of Sec. 4
notification because it merely constitutes a proposal w~ich wi11 be meticuloiisty
>I H
eKa;mined after the objections are filed under Sectien SA by the person.iQiereSted
• DISTT. MAGISTRATE V. R.R. JAisWAL 997
in. the land wherein all aspects of the matter can be threadbare gone into and A
examined. HoWever, as a notification under section 4 (1) initiates the proceedings
for acquisition of land and uses the en.pression 'shall' the mandate of the legis-
lature becomes clear and theref~re, the infirmities therein cailnot be wholly
overlooked on the specious plea that the courts do not interdict 3.t the stage of
a mere proposal. [1006 E-G]

2.2 A bare perusal of seetion 4 (!) clearly shows that in order to comply
with the statutory requirements therein set out, a notifiCation stating ~therein the
land which is needed or is likely to be needed for a public purpose has to be
published in the official Gazette: The second part of the sub-section provides that
'th~ Conector has to .cause pub1ic notice or the substance of "such notification to
be given at convenient places in the IocaHty in wbich ·the land proposed to be
acQuired is situated. Both the ct)nditions are mandatory. Unless.both thesecondi·
tions are satisfied, section 4 or the Land Acquisition Act cannot be said to have c
· been complied with. Nor cari Court whittle down a mandate or legislation recog..
nise~ by a long line or decisions solely dePending upon the racts or a given case ;
as is herer. Further after th~ 1974 (U.P. Amendment and Validation Act VIII
of .]974), Section 4 (I) on its true interpretation may unmistakahty indicate that
where the enquiry under Sect.ion 5 A is not di!:pensed with by resorting to Sec. 17
(4), compliance with the second part or Section 4 would be mandatory.
I)
[1006H, 1007A-D, 1009D-E]

Khub Chand and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan and.Or<., [1967] I SCR 120 at
. ·125 ; Babu Barkya Thakur v. The State of Bombay, [1961] I SCR 128: Smt.
Somavanti and Orr. v. The State of Punjab & Ors., [196J] 2 SCR.774; State of
Mysorev. Abdul Razak Sahib, (1973) 1SCR856 referred to.

Gangadharaih v. State of Mysore & Ors., (1961) Mys. L.J. 883 approved. £
2.3 It is not correct to asc;ume that the sole purpose behind publication
of substance of Notification in locality. as required secondly iD section 4 (1) of the
, Land Acquisition Act is to make requirements of section 5 A ~functio·nally effec-
. tive, [1009G]

Where a decision. of the Government to be effective and .valid has .to be
F
notified in the Government Gazette. the decision itself doCs not become effectiv~
unless a notification in the Official Gazette follows. Therefore, assuming that a
notification is a formal eXpression of a decision of the Government to acquire
tand. unless the decision is notified in the Government Gazette by an appropriate·
notification, the proceedings for acquisition cannot be said. to have been
Initiated and the decision would remain a paper decision. Section 4 (1)
further requires that 'the Collector shall cause public notice of the substance of G
such notification to be given at convenient places in the said locality! The
expression •such notification' in the latter part of Section 4(1) and ·sequence
of events therein enumerated would clearly spell out that first the Government
should reach a decision to acquire land, · then publish a nodcation under
section 4 (1) and simultaneously or within a reasonable time from the date of
the publicati~n of the notification c~use ·a notice to be published containing
·$ubstance of such notification meaning thereby that notification which js pub.. -H
998 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1985] 3 S.C.R.
lished. Obviously, therefore, there cannot be a publication in thci Jocality
A
prior to the issuance of the notification. [lOIOB-G]

Babu Barkya Thakur v. The State of Bombay, [1961] I SCR 128; Narendra
Bahadur Singh and Anr. v. State of U.P. & Ors, [1977] 2 SCR 226; State of
Madhya Pradesh & Ors. v.' Vishnu Prasad Sharma & Ors, [1966] 3 SCR 557
held in applicable. ....
B
Mahendra Lal Jain/ v. The State of Uttur Prad'esh & Ors, [1963] Supp,
1 SCR 912 relied on.
'
3: 1 Where power is conferred to achieve a purpose the power must be
exercise reasonably and in good faith to effec!uate the purpose. And in this
context 'in good faith' means for legitimate. reasons. Wher~ it is exerciSed for
c extraneous or irrelevant consideration or reasons, it is unquestionab y a
colourable exercise of power or fraud on power and the exercise of power is
vitiated. If the power to acquire land is to be exercised, it must be exercised
bona fide for the statutory purpose and fof none other. If it is exercised for
an extfancous, irrelevant or non-germane consideration, the acquiring autho-
rity can be charged with Jegiil malafidcs. In Such a situation there is no
question- of any persona 1 ill-will or motive. [l OI8C-E]
D
Municipal Counri/ of Sydney v. Compbel/, [1925] A.C. 338 at 375 quoted
with approval.

State of Punjab v. Gurdia/ Singh & Ors, [1980] l SCR 1071 explained
and foJlowed. ·

E 3.2 Where rower is conferred to achieve a certain purpose, the power
can be exercis~d oaly for achieving that· purpose. Section 4(1) confers
power on the Governm~nt H!Jd the Collector to acquire land needed for
a public purpose. The power to acquire land is to be excercised for carry-
ing out a p1,1blic purpose. If the authoritfos of the Sammelan cannot tolerate
the existence of a cinen1a theatre in its vicinity it cannot be said that such a pur·
po8e would be a public purpose. The authority of the Sammelan may honestly
F believe that the existence· of a ·cinema theatre maY have -the ~pernicious, ten-
dency to vitiate the educational and cultural enviorrhent of the institution and
therefore, it would like to wish away a cinema theatre in its vicinity. That
hardly constitutes public purpose. The proclaimed need of land for putting up
Sangrahalya is an easy escape route whenever Sammclao wants tu take over
some piece of land. Need of.the land for Sangtahalya is a figment of imagination
consured up'to provide an ostensible purpose for acquisition. There is enough
G land roughly adn1easuring 7315 sq. yds. lying vacant and unutilised with the
Sammclan for over a\ quarter of a century. The Sangrahalya has not Come
up thoUgh thi3 was the land which was taken fn:irn the. Municipal Board for
the avowed object of putting up a Sangrahalya. 1.'he Sammelan moved on to
Rangamanch ~nd Natyashala and then ultimately adopted a position that whea
the land is made available, scheme will be devised for its proper use. The
S.'.1n1mt.lan was ever intcrstcd in acquiring the land for effectuating any of its
H object~. It Q.as neither the plans QOr the wherewithal nor any specific object
nisrr. MAGISTRATB v. R.R. JAISWAL (Desai, J.) ,999,.

fOr which it needs land and it is unable to use over years the land already A
~vailable a'.t its disposal. Therefore, the Sammelan was aciuateC:f by CxtraOeo'ii~ '
and irrelevant considerations in seeking acquisitiori of the land and the statu-
tory authority having !<nown this fa·ct yet proceede~ .to exercise statutory pwoer/
and init.iated tho process of acquisition. [1017F-H, IOISA-B]

3·.3. T~e power t~ .acqUire land was a' exercised for an extraileo~s and .
1
'
irrelevant purpose and it was· coloilrable exercise ofi:>ower, TI.arllely, to s3.tis'rY' 1. B
the chagrin and anguish of the Sammelan at ,the coming·up of a cinema theatre
• in the· viCinity of its campus,_ whi~h vowed 'to destro·y. Thetefo-re, the considera..
tion dated 6.2.1975 is illegal and invalid. [l019E-FJ • • ' f

. . .
CIVIL APPELLA TB JURISDICTION : . Civil .. Appeal .No. 2458
.. ( . ,.

~and S.L.P. No. 9019 of 1980 '·"' · · "' c
. .t,1 ·• ".' .•'{ . .. . . '
I

From 'the Judgment and Order dated 7.12. 1979 of the
Allahabad High Court .in Civil• Misc. Writ Petition No. 3174 of
1975.

' Gopa/ Subrama-
•
R.N. Trivedi, Additional A4vocate , General, D
nlam and Ms. Shobha Dlkshit for the Appellant~. .

F.S Nariman, Raja Ram Agarwal;YogeshwarPrasad, Mr.... Rani
Chhabra and Ms. S~man Bagga for the respondent. .,

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
"

. DBSAI, J. Respondent Raja Ram Jaiswal moved Civil Miscel-
la.neous Writ_Petition No. 3174of1975 under Art. 226 of the Consti-.,
tution in the High Court of Judicature at Allahadad quesiioningr;
the validity of the Notification dated February 6, 1975 issued under
Sec. 4(1) of the Land Acquistion Act ('Act' for short) as also a"iiotice E
l dated March 6, 197 5 served upon him pursuant to the afore-men-
tioned notification. The impugned notification was published in the
U.P. Government Gazette dated February 15, 1975. Jly this
. impugned notification, land bearing Plot No. 62 approximately
adme"asuring 8265 sq. yds. was sought to be acquired' as being
needed for a public purposse namely for extension of Hindi Sangra-
halaya of the Hindi Sahitya Samnielan Piayag:. A substances of
this notification was published in the. locality where "the land sought
to be acquired is situate. On March 22, 1975, a corrigendum dated
March 13, 1975 was published by which the impugned notification
dated February 15, 1975 was to stand corrected .Plot No. 26 instead ,
H
of. 62 and the area sought to be acquired to be.· read as 2865 sq. yds,
1000 SUPRBMQ COURT REPORTS (1985] 3 S.C.R.

instead of 8265 sq. yds. After the publication of the corrigendum
A
the petitioner sought amendment of the petition which was granted.
Validity of the amended notification was challenged on diverse
grounds. However, atthe hearing of the petition, the challenge
was confined to the following four grounds as summarised in the
judgment of the High Court. They may be extracted :
B
"!. Notification dated 6. 2. 75 issued under Sec. 4 of the •
Land Acquisition Act is invalid in as much as it had
been issued without first complying with the provi·
1
· sions
~·'
of rule,.4 of the Land Acquisition (Companies)
Rules, 1963. .,
c
2. Acquisition proceedings are mala fide.

·' 3. Notice under section 4(1) of the Act was served.upon
the petitioner on 6th March, 1975 when only two days
time was left for filing objections under Section 5-A
n· of the Land Acquisition Act. This rendered the pro-
ceedings illegal.
4. The notification under Section 4(1) did not relate to
plot No. 26 belongin_g to the petitioner. Proceeding11
to acquire the said plot are therefore withont juris..
E diction."

After the petition was amended two· additional grounds
of challenge we.re pressed ·on behalf of the respondent.· They
are:

"1. The notification dated 13th March, 1975 isi nvalid
F
for the very same reason for which the notification
dated 6th February; 1973 is Claimed to be invalid.
2; The Land Acquisition proceedings are invalid inas-
much as the notification dated 13th March, 1975 was
neither published nor was its substance notified in the
G
locality, as also because no notice thereof had been
served upon the petition<:r."

Negativing all the challenges. except th<: one that as thete was
failure to cause public notice of th<: substance of notification ·linde.r
H Sec. 4(\) to be published at convenient place in the. locality on
DISTT. MAGISTRATE V R. R. JAISWA.L (Desai, J.) 1001

this short ground, the impugned notification was quashed. Hence A
this appeal by the Collector, Allahabad and the Land Acquisition
Officer by special leave. ·

Respondent who was the ·original petitioner but is respondent in
the appeal filed by the Collector will be referred to as the petitioner
in this judgment. B
Petitioner field Special Leave Petition No. 9019 of 1980
against the same judgment contending that the High Court commit-
ted an error in rejecting . the challenge to the validity of the
impugned notification on the ground of legal mala fides· as also on
the gronnd of non-compliance with Rule 4 of the Land Acquisition
(Companies) Rules, 1963.
c
As both these matters arise out of the same judgment, . they
were _heard together and are being disposed of by a common judg-
ment. It may be mentioned that connected Civil Appeal No. 2437 of
1981 was to be taken up for hearing after the hearing concluded in·
D
the present appeal _ and therefore, the judgment in this matter was
postponed because the observations in one were likely to have some
impact on the disposal on merits of the contentions in the cognate
appeal. Though very much delayed by circumstances beyond our
. control, few days back the hearing in the cog'Oate appeal is over
and therefore, both· t_he appeals can now be disposed of though by E
Separate judgments.

A brief resume of the facts leading to the writ petition field
in the High Court would be quite instructive in this case. The
Hindi Sahitya Sammelan ('Sammelan' for short) for whose benefit
ttie land was sought to be acquired was initially' formed as a volun-
F
.iary organisation in 1910 and on January 8, _1914 it was regist~red
as a society under the Societies Registration Act retaining the same
name. Somewhere in 1950 diffierences arose between the. members
of the society and the attempt to ~lier the constitution of the society,
ultimately led to litigation. U.P. Legislature enacted aa Act styled
as U.P. Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Act No. 36 of 1956 under which G
a statutory body was created under the. name of Hindi Sahitya
Sammelan. The statutory body was to take over the management
and properties of th_e society. The Act was however struck down
as unconstitutional.in Dainyanti Naranga v. Union of India & Ors.( 1)
The pre-existing Sammelan which was a registered society

(I) (1971) 3 S.C.R. 840 H
1002 SUPRBME COURT REPORTS [1985] 3 s.c.R.

'11 continuea to function as such. lt is for the benefit of the Sammelan
that the land involved in the dispute was sought to be acquired.
According to the Sammelan, it is in need of land for building
~Sangrahalaya' which was roughly translated as mu~eum-cum-library•
.cumreading room.

B At tbe instance of the Sammelau. Allahabad Municipal Board
agreed to hand . over the land and building in which a municipal
school was located, situated at Kamta Prasad Kakkar Road adja·
cent to the Central ·office and Press of the Sammelan, on certain
conditions. The Sammelan needed the land, as it was then declar-
ed, ·to establish a mnseum. The land with the school building ·y
c thereon was transfeued to the Sammelan in 1953. It may be men-
tioned that even till today the area of land admeasuring 7315 sq.
yds. in .possession of the Sammelan is lying vacant and for the
qnarter of a century, mnseum has not come up. This aspect is
mentioned in some detail as it has an impact on the contention
.canvassed in these appeals.
D
. Petitione; Jaiswal along with the members of his family pur-
chased land bearing plot No. 26 with a buildi;;g thereon admeasur-
ing 2978 sq. yds. situated at K. P. Kakkar Road in March 1970.
The petitioner wanted to ·build a sound-proof air-conditioned
E. cinema theatre on the plot NJ. 26 purchased by him. The plan
for the proposed theatre was sanctioned both by the District Magis-
trate and the local mnnicip11ity in December 1970. It may be
recalled here that the jndgment of this Conrt holding Hindi Sahitya
Sammelan Act nnconstitntional was rendered on February 23, 1971.
• a
. The Sammelan was wholly opposed to the construction of theatre
F near its campus as in its view a theatre and a research-cum-study
centre can go ill together. Therefore, when the petitioner applied
for a certificate of approval under Rule 3 read ·with rule 7(2) of
the U.P. Cinematograph Rules 1951 for construction of a cinema
theatre, authorities of the Sammelan raised a . storm of protest,
G sometimes peaceful occasionally likely to turn violent impelling
authorities to impose restrictive orders under Sec. 144, Code of
Criminal Procedure. Sammelan also submitted a long memorandum
setting out its objections with a view to persuading the authorities
not to grant a certificate of approval for construction of a cinema

" H (I) [1971] 3 S.C.R. 840
biSIT. MAGISTRATE v. R. R. JAiSWAL (Desai, I.) 100~

building. Overruling the ,objections the District Magistrate, the
A
Licencing Authority under the U.P. Cinemas (Regulation) Act,
1955 granted the requisite certificate of approval under Ruk 3
which would in law imply that havirig regard to th.e provisions of the
1955 Act and 1951 Rules, there was no legal impediment to cons-
tructing a cinema theatre on plot No. 26. Thereupon, Secretary ..
of the Sammelan addressed a letter to the Chief Minister of. State B
of U.P. complaining against the grant of the permision by the
'' District Magistrate and requesting the Chief Minister to cancel the
permission. Ultimately, having failed to thwart the grant of certi-
ficate of approval, the Sammelan wrote a letter on October 13, 1971
for acquiring land bearing Plot No. 26. It may be recalled that the
certificate of approval for constructing a cinema building was granted · c
by the District Magistrate on March 24, 1972. The Sammelan addre-
ssed various letters to various authorities including the then Prime
Minister of India requesting them to cancel the certificate of appro-
val granted to the petitioner. Ultimately on January 31, 1974, a
notification under Sec. 4(1 l of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was D
issued stating therein that 'the land bearing plot No. 26 admeasu-
ring approx. 2865 sq. yds. was needed for a public purpose namely
for extension of Hindi Sangrahalaya of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan
Prayag'. This. notification was published in the U .P. Government
Gazette on February 9, 1974. A notice under Sec,· 4(1) bearing
the same date was served upon the petitioner as also the same was E
published in the locality. The petitioner challenged the validity
of this notification on diverse grounds in Writ Petition No. 1.932/74
and as a measure Zof interim relief, the High Conrt stayed fur-
ther proceeding that may be taken to acquire the land. In the
meantime by notification dated February 6, 1975, the earlier noti-
fication under Sec. 4(1) dated January 31, 1974 was1 cancelled and F
a fresh notification was issued to acquire 'land bearing plot No. 62
admeasuring 8265 sq. yds. for the earlier mentioned public pur-
pose'. Consequently, the writ petition in which the validity·ofthe
earlier notification was questioned was disposed of as infructuous.
The second notification dated February 6, 1975 was published in tM
U.P. Gazette on February 15, 1975. A notice dated March 6, 1975 G
under Sec. SA of the Land Acquisition Act was served upon the peti'
tioner inviting him to file his oojection, if there be any, against the
proposed acquisition. The petitioner filed detailed objections on
March 8, 1975 inter a/ia contending that the acquisition is for a
1004 SiJPRBMB CQURT REPORTS [1985] 3 s.c.Ji..
·A company and the pre-reqnisite for acquisition for a company having
not been carried out, the acquisition is bad in law. It was also con-
tended that the petitioner is not the own.er of plot No. 62 admea-
suring 8265 sq. yds. Promptly on March 13, 1975, a corrigendum
was issued and published in the Gazette on March 22, 1975 correct-
ing the notification dated February 6, 1975 to read that instead
B
of plot No .. 62, plot No. 26 be read and instead of area
8265 sq.· yds. 2865 sq. yds. be read. In· between the issue. of ,
the notification and the corrigendum, the petitioner filed Writ ·Peti- f

tion 3174/75 questioning the validity of the notification dated
February 6, 1975; The High Court struck down the notification as
c invalid and during the pen<Jancy of the writ petition in.the High
Court, further continuance of the acquisition proceedings were stayed.

If the petitioner questioned the validity of the notification on
ground of mala tides, he ought to have joined Sammelan as respon-
dent. Having failed to implead a proper party, he behaved
D
curiously in opposing .the application of the Sammelan for beillg
impleaded as a party. The High Court was in error in rejecting the
application. Therefore, when the Sammelan moved an application
for intervention under Order XX rul<: 3 of the Supreme Court
Rules, 1966, we granted the same and Mr. S.N. Kacker learned
E counsel appeared for the Sammelan at the hearing of these
appeals and addressed his oral arguments and submitted written
submissions.

The High Court struck down the notification holding that 'in
order to be a valid notification under Sec. 4(1 ), it has to be publish-
E ed or notified for general information in the Official Gazette and for
purposes of Sec. SA of the Act, it would be taken to have been pub-
lished on the date of such publication in the Official Gazette and I
~second part of Sec. 4(1) requires the publication of the' sub-
stance of the notification in the locality'. This having not been
complied with, the notification was bad and invalid. The correct-.
G ness of this view is questioned on behalf of the appellants.

· After scruitinising the evidence placed on record, the High
Court has recorded a findmg that the substance of the notification
was·not published in the locality either after 15th February, 1975
H when the notification dated February 6, 1975 was first publised in the
Official Gazette or after March 22, 1975 when the corrigendum was
' l>ISTT. MAGISTRATE v. R.R. JAISWAL (Desai, J.) 109s
publis)l.ed in the Official Gazette and thus the. requirement of the A
second part of Sec. 4(1) has not been complied. w.ith. The. finding
that there was no such publication as herein indicated w.as not
seriously questioned and in fact could not be questioned. A few
facts will affirmatively establish it. The first notification dated
January 31, 1974 was published in the o.flicial Gazette dated
February 9, 1974 and in respect of which a notice was published in. B
the locality in March, 1974. A copy of the notice was served on
the petitioner on March 6, 1974. This notification bore the number
78· V.III-LAQ and it was in respect of plot N~. 26 admeasuring
2865 sq. yds. This notification was cancelled and superseded by
another notification No. 552-VIII~LAQ dated February 6, 1975, c
which was published in the Official Gazette dated February 15,
1975. This latter notification clearly recites that•the ear.lier notifi·
cation dated February ·9, 1974 is thereby cancelled. In the latter
notification dated Feb. 6, 1975, the land proposed to be acquired
was· shown to be plot No. 65 admeasuring 8265 sq. yds.· Admit·
tedly notice of the substance of this notification was not published D
'in the locality. ·The petitioner had nothing to do with· land bear· ·
ing plot No. 62 admeasuring 8265 sq. yds. As the.previous.notifi·
cation was cancelled, he had nothing to worry about the second
.notification which has no . relevance to the plot belonging to him.
The corrigendum dated March · 13, 1975 was issued and pub~
lished in the Official Gazette dated March 22, 1975 correcting the E
plot number and the area and the corre~ted entry was to b~ in re-
ference to plot No. 26 and area to be acquired was to be 2865 sq.
ycts. Admittedly, there was no notice of publication of the subs-
tance o( the notification dated Februa.ry 15,. 1975 nor of the corri-
ge.~dum dated March 22, 1975 in the lacality. The High Court was
F
therefore, right in holding that in respect of the later notification
and .corrigendum, no notice was published in the locality and latter
1 part of Sec. 4(1) was .not complied with.
I

Sec. 4(1) in its application to. the State of .U.P. reads as
under: G

"4(1) : Whenever it apppears to the appropriate Govern-
ment or Collector that land in any locality is needed or is.
likely .to be needed for any public purpose, a notification
to that effect shall be published in the Official Gazette, and
the Collector shall cause public notice of.the substance of H
1006 \ SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 3 s.C.R.

A sud( ·noiification 'fo be given at convenient places in the
·'' said locality."
• r1' 1 ·

By . Land Acquisition (U .P. Amend men! And Validation)
;
Act·Vlli ~ of 1974, the section was amended to read as under :
,! ' •

A
·' i. , '"'4(1) : Whether it appears to the appropriate Oovem-
• 'ment and the Collector that land in any iocality is needed ,.
"or h.likely to be needed for any public purpose, a notifica-
.. tion to tliat effect shall lie published in the Official
, Gazette, and except in the case of any land to which
c . by ;virtue of a direction of the Staie Government under
'Sub:section (4) of Sec. 17, the provisions of Sec. 5-A
shall not apply,[the[Collector shall cause public notice of
the substance of such notification to be given at convenient
~ places in the said locality."

D
Though this amendment of 1974 is subsequent to the imptigne<i
·notification, yet some reference was made to it to buttress the sub-
mission· that the only purpose of a notification under Sec. 4(1) and
the public notice in the locality· is to make functionally effective the
provisions of Sec. 5A so that. the persons interested .in · the land
F sought to be acquired can canvass his objections against the propos-
ed acquisition. We shall presently deal with it.
::'··:: ., .

M" S.N. Kicker for' the intervener and Mr. Dikshit for the
State of' U.P. ·urged that ordinarily courts do not interfere at' the
stage of Sec. 4 notification because it merely constitutes a proposal
viliich will be meticulously examined after the objections are filed
tirlllJr'Sec.5A by'the p~riim i~thested in the land wherein all· as-
pects of the matter can be threadbare gone into and examined.
Broadly stated, one cannot take serious exception to this snbmission.
However; as a not1tication under Sec. 4 (I). initiates the proceedings
G for acquisition of land and uses the expression 'shall' the mandate
of the legislature becomes clear and therefore, the infirmities therein
cannot be wholly. overlooked on the specious plea that the courts do
not interdict at the stage of a mere proposal.

A hare' perusalof Sec. 4 (I) clearly shows that. in order to.
H comply'\vith the stat~tory 're'qiifrements therein set out, a notifi.cation
DJSTT. M:A.GISTRATB v. Il. R. iA.ISWA.L (Desai, J.) toot
stating 'therein the land which is needed or is likely to be needed for A
a public purpose' has to be published in the official Gazette. The
second part of the sub-section provides that 'the Collector has to
cause public notice of the substance of such notification to be given
at· convenient places in the locality in which the land proposed to be
acquired is situated. BJlh the conditions are held by a catena of
decisions to be mandatory. Whether the second condition is manda-
tory or ~irectory is no mor~ res inlegra. In Khub·.chand and Ors. v. B·
State ~l Rajasthan and Ors.(1), Subba Rao, CJ speaking for the court
observed that 'the statutory· intention is, therefore, clear, namely,
that the giving of_ public notice is mandatory. If ~o, the notification
issued under s. 4 without complying with the said· mandatory direct-
ion would be void and the land acquisition proceedings taken pur-
suant thereto would be equally void~' While reaching this conclu- c
sion, the Court distinguished the decision in Babu Barkya Thakur v.
The S·ate of Bombay(') wherein it was held that 'any defect in the
notification under Sec. 4 is not fatal to the validity of the procee-
dings, particularly when the acquisition is .for a company and the
p~rpose has to _be investigated UJ!der s. 5A or s. 40 necessarily after
the issue of the notification under .s. 4 of the Act'. The Court poin- D
ted out that the defect with which the notification in Bahu Barkya
Thakur's case _sufferred was of a formal nature and did not go to the
root of the matter. However, the decision is not an authority for
the proposition that if a public notice of the notification was not E
given as prescribed by s. 4, it can be ignored. The pertinent obser-
vation of the court is that s~ch an approach would constituie
rewriting the section. The court also. referred to Smt. Somavanti and
Ors. v.. The State ~f Punjab & Ors.<'> and quoted· with approval the
statement therein made that a· valid notification under sub-s. (I) of
Sec. 4 is a condition precedent to the making of a declaration under ·
snb-s. (I) of Sec. 6. This view has been consistently followed and
was approved in State of Mysore v. Abdul Razak Sahib<'J, wherein it
was observed that in the case of a notification under Sec: 4 of the
;
Land Acquisition Act, the law has prescribed that in adoition to the'
pnblication of tbe notification in the Official Gazette, the Collector
G
must also give publicity of the substance of the notification in the
concerned locality. Unless both these conditions are satisfied, s. 4

(l) [1967] 1 S.C,R. j20 at 125.
(2) [1961} I S.C.R. 128.
(3) (1963] 2 S.C.R. 774.
(4) [1973] 1 S,C.R. 8~.
•
1008 SUPREME C!'URT REPORTS (1985] js.c.R..
A of. the Land Acquisition Act cannot tie said to have been complied
with. The publication of a uotice in the locality is a mandatory
requirement. Mr. Kacker however, drew our attention to a few
more observations. in the judgment wherein it was said that there is
an important purpose behind publication of the substance of the
notification in the locality because in the absence of such publica-
B
tion, the interested persons may not be able to file their objections
challenging the proposed acquisition and they will be denied an
opportunity afforded by· s. 5A which confers a very valuable right. ;
Relying on this obse~vation Mr. Kacker urged that if the underlying
purpose behind publication of a notice in the locality is to give an
c opportunity to the· person interested in the land to object to .the
acquisition, where in a case the purpose is achieved as in this case
the petitioner having filed his objections, the failure to publish the
substance of the notification in the locality need not be treated fatal
,.y·
.

and cannot invalidate the proceedings. The submission as presen·
ted is very persuasive and but for binding precedents, we would have
D accorded considerable attention toit. But we would not whittle down
a mandate of legislation recognised· by a long line of decisions solely
. depending upon the facts of a given· ca.se. Further the submission
is P,redicated upon an assumption that the sole purpose behind publi-
cation of substance of notification in locality is to make require-
E ments of Sec. 5A functionally effective. The assumption as would
be pointed out is not well founded. In fact, the court in the last
mentioned case went so far as approving the decision of the Mysore
High Court in Gangadharaih v. State of Mysore & Ors.(1) wherein. it
was ruled that '.when a notification under s. 4 (I} is published in the
official Gazette and it is accompanied by or immediately followed
F by the public notice, that a person interested in the property pro-.
posed to be acquired can be regarded to have had notice of the
proposed acquisition.' This is a mandatory requirement for legal
compliance with requirements of Sec. 4 (I). In Narendra Bahadur
Si~gh and Anr. v. State of U.P. & Ors<'> this Court reiterated that a
·' publication of the notice in the locality as required by the second
G part of s. 4 (I) is mandatory and unless. that nofa:e is given in
accordance with the provisions contained therein, the entire acqui-
sition proceedings are vitiated. "Repelling the contention, that

H (I) [1%1] Mys. L.J, 883
(2) [19771 2 s.c.R. 226•

•
bistt. MAGiSTRATB v. "'· R. !AISWAL (Desai, i.) 1009·
the only. purpose behind publicatiQn of a notice in the locality is A
to give opportunity to.the person intere.sted in the land .to prefer
objections under Sec. 5A which confers a v·aluable right, it was
held that even though in the facts of that case, the inquiry
under s. 5A was dispensed with by a direction under Sec. 17 (4)
of the Act, the failure to comply with the second condition in
Sec. 4 (I) is fatal. It was pertinently observed that provisions of B
Sec. 4(1) cannot be held to be mandatory iJ1 one situation and direc;
tory in another and therefore, it cqnnot be said that the .only pur·
pose behind making the publication ·of notice in the locality manda·
tory is to give an opportunity to the persons interested in the land
to file objections under Sec. 5A. Of course, what other object it
seeks to subserve has been left unsaid. But the answer is not far to
c
seek. At least we have no doubt that the only visible and demons-
tralle purpose behind publication of the substance of the notification
under Sec. 4 (l) in the locality 'where the land proposed to be acqui-
red is situated, is to give the persons interested in· the land due·
opportunity to submit their considered objections against the pro- D
posed notification.

Incidentally~ it may be pointed out that after the 1974 amend-'
I
ment, Sec. 4 (I) .on its true illterpretation may unmistakably indicate
that where the enquiry under Sec. 5A is not dispensed with by re•
E
sorting to Sec. 17 (4), compliance with the second part of Sec. 4
would be mandatory. We however do not propose to go into this
aspect· because the amendment is subsequent to the notification. '

Mr. Kacker however on behalf of the interveners while con-
ceding. that there cannot be a valid· acquisition unless a notification F
is published in the Otlicfal Gazette· and a substance of the noti-
I fication. is published in the lacality, urged that publication in locality
i
need not necessaiily follow·the publication of. the notification in. the
Official Gazette but it may. even precede the same because what is
of importance is the decision to acquire; the notification and publi·
cation of the notice are mere formal expressions of the decision of G
the G~vt. to start acquisition proceedings. Proceeding along it was
said that the second requirement of, Sec. 4 (I) viz. publication of the
notice in the locality is only to make effective the provisions of Sec.
SA and that such minor defect cannot invalidate notification under
Sec. 4. To substantiate this submission, reliance was placed upon
the decisions in Babu Barkya Thakur's case, State of Madhya
1010 SUPREME CQURT REPQRTS (1985] 3 s.c.R.

A Pradesh & Ors. v. Vishnu Prasad Sharma & Ors.(') and Narendra
Bahadur Singh's case. All these decisions do not .bear out or
substantiate the submission of Mr. Kacker for the reasons already
mentioned.

Assuming that a notification in the 0 fficial Gazette is a formal
B expression of the decision of the Government, the decision of the
Government is hardly relevant, unless it takes the concrete shape
f
and form by publication in the Official Gazette. Where a decision
of the Government to be effe9tive and vafid has to be notified in the
Government Gazette, the decision itself does not become effective
c unless a notification in the Official Gazette follows. Jn Mahendra
Lal Jaini v. The State of Ullar Pradesh & Ors.(') it was held that a
notification under Sec. 4A of the In di an Forest Act, 1927 is requir-
ed io be published in the Gazette and unless it is· so published,
· .it is of no effect. Logically, the same view must be ·adopted
for a: notification under Sec. 4. Therefore assuming that a noti-
fication is a formal expression of a decision of the Government to
acquire land, unless the decision is notified in the Government
Gaze\te by an appropriate notification, the proceedings for acqui-
'sition cannot be said to have been initiated and the decision would
remain a paper decision. Sec. 4 (I) further requires that 'the
E Collector shall cause public notice of the substance of such noti-
fication to be given at convenient places in the said locality.' The
expression. 'such notification' in the latter part of Sec. 4 (1) and
sequence of events therein enumerated would clearly spell out that
first the Government should reach a decision to acquire land, then
publish a.notification under Sec.4 (1) and ·simultaneously or within
F a reasonable time from the date of the publication of the notification
cause a notice to be published containing substance of such ·noti-
fication meaning thereby that notification which is published. (
Obviously, therefore, there cannot be a publication in. the locality
prior to the issuance of the notification. The submission of Mr.
Kacker does not commend to us.

Jn this context, it was next contended that at any rate the peti-
tioner has not suffered any prejudice by the failure of the Govern·
ment to publish. a notice in the locality because the petitioner has,
filed detailed objections against the proposed acquisition. If the

(I) [1966) 3 S.C.R 551.
R (2) [1963) Supp, 1 S.C.R. 912.
•
DiSTT. MAGiSTRATE v. R.R. JAISWAL (Desai, J.) 1011

only purpose behind publishing the notice in the locality was to A
.give an opportunity to the persons interested in the land to file their
objections, the submission would have merited consideration, but
the same has been expressly negatived and therefore, it · is futile to ·
examine the same. To' be brutally frank if this was the only
ground for invalidating the notification, in the backdrop of facts we
would have our serions reservations in upholding the decision, though B
'.
as the law stands, the. High Court was perfectly justified in reaching
this conclusion. Our reservations have nothing to do with the per-
fectly legal view taken by the High Court. They stem from the
facts of this case and our understanding o(the purpose behind publi-
cation of notice as set out by us earlier. In •such a situation, we
would have developed the concept of prejudice and the absence of c·
it resulting in negativing the contention. But there are other formid-
able challenges to .the validity of the impugned notification, which
of course have not found favour with .the High Court but we are
inclined to take a different view of the matter. Therefore we let .
the decision of the High .Court on this point stand.
0
Turning to the petition for special leave filed by the petitioner, we
grant special leave to appeal and proceed to examine the two chal-
lenges to the validity of the notification under Sec. 4(1) which have
been negatived by the High Court. The petitioner questioned the
validity of the notification inter alia on the ground that the acqui- E
sition .was malafide and that the acquisition being for aCompany,. it
would be invalid for failure to comply with the provisions of rule 4
of the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules, 1963. The High Court·
negatived both the chall,~mges. Mr. Nariman, learned counsel for
the petitioner invited us to examine them.· ··
..
F
\
The relevant averments on the question of mala !ides as set out
in the writ petition filed in the High Court may l\e briefly summaris.
ed. As the objections by the S.ammelan for not grantiug a certi-
ficate of approval for constructing a cinema building on ·Plot No. 26
were not accepted by the Licensi.ng authority and a certificate of
approval was subsequently granted to the petitioner, the Sammelan G
, in order to achieve the same object, namely, not to p~rmit a theatre
to be constructed at the place, moved the authorities for acquiring
the land. It is averred that the genesis of the proceeding for acqui-
s.ition is not in the need of the Sammelan but its failure to stop the
cinema theatre coming up and thus the purported need is non-
1012 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 3 S.C.R.

A ·existent and the initiation of the acquisition proceedings was mala
fide. Its sole purpose is to deprive the petitioner <if the cinema
business which he would legally carry on. Frankly, the averments
are not very ·specific, clear, precise and to the point. But the comu-
lative effect of the allegations is that Sammelan heing actuated by
the ulterior motive to thwart'the petitioners' project to construct a
B cinema building reso'rted to the dubious method of seeking acqui-
sition of the land even though it had no need present or in near
future of the land in question. Obviously, if such be the allegation,
the Sa)11melan ought to ~ave been impleaded as a party to the writ .
petition, Not only the Sammelan was not impleaded·as 'the party,
.c but when the Samme!at1 moved an application for intervention or
for being joined as .a party, the petitioner was ill-advised to object
to the sanie and unfortunately the objection prevailed with' the High
Court. We are unable to appreciate both the objections and the
view taken '.by the High Court. Therefore, when Mr. Nariman
pressed his petit.ion for special leave to appeal against the rejection
D of the challenge on the· afore-mentioned two grounds, we made it
•. abundantly clear that we would be lea.st interested in examining . the .
challenge' founded on the ground of mala fides in the absence ·of. the
Sammelan. The Sammelan had moved a petition for intervention
· which, it must be stated in'fairness to Mr. Nari man, was not object-

E
ed in this Court and we made it abundantly clear that the request
for being impleaded as a party in the High Court ought not to have
-
been objected. Accordingly, .the petition for intervention was grant-
ed and the Sammelan was given an opportunity to file its affidavit
as well as any material that it ch·ooses to place on record. Accord-
ing to the rules, . the interveners are n11t entitled to address oral
submissions to the court but in!the background of the facts of this
F
case, we gave full opportunity to Mr. Kacker to address oral sub-
1ri:i'ssions. · It is in the backdrop of these facts that we propose to
examine the challenge founded on the ground of mala fides.
•
A few facts will have to be recapitulated. After the petitioner
G purchased the Plot No. 26 and submitted an application on July 6,
1971 to the licensing authority for grant of a certificate of approval
as envisaged by rule 3 read with rule 7 ofU.P. Cinematograph Rules,
1951 ('1951 Rules' for short) for constructing a cinema building on
Plot No. 26, the Sammelan promptly objected to the grant of certi-
ficate of approval on the ground that existence of a cinema theatre
H
within the vicinity of the campus of the instjtqte of culture learning
DJSTT. MAGISARATE v. R.R. JAISWAL (Desai, J.) 1013

and·research like the Sammelan would be destructive of the environ- A
ment .and the atmosphere of the institute, and existence of a cinema
iheatre at such a place would be an incongruity. May be, it migjlt
be tlie honest. and genuine belief of the office-bearers of the Sam-
melan ·that an institute of learning and . research cannot co-exist
with a cinema theatre in its vicinity, and that the latter may pollute
the educational and cultural environment. The District Magistrate · B.
' ' as ihe licensing authority after corresponding with the State authori-
ties granted the certificate of approval on February 24, 1974. On
October 13, 1971, the Sam·melan sent a communication addressed to
the ·Chief Minister of U.P. in which it was stated that a cinema
building 'should not be permitted to be constructed in the vicinity of
tile campus of the Sammelan. The letter also refers to an earlier
c
application addressed to the Chief Minister requesting him to inter-
ven..s·o that the proposed cinema house may not be permitted to be
constructed ne~r the campus of the Sainmelan, because it is likely
to cause nuisance and interfere with the activities arid the academic
D
environment of the Sammelan. Further request was made in the
letter that administrative sanction may be granted for acquisition of ·
land on which the cinema building is proposed to be constructed
offering that ·the Sammelan is ready to pay whatever compensation
that may have to be paid for acquisition of the land and the building
thereon. The Disrict Magistrate by his letter dated November 8, E
1971 addressed to the Pradhan Mantri of the Sammelan pointed out
that the Revenue Board had directed that no institution should be
given land more than that r.equired for its purpose and that where
the land is. to be acquired by a body, such a body itself must make
an ·attempt to directly purchase the land. Then comes a sentence

.,
i
which may be extracted :.

"It is also evident by your above referred letter that
F

you stood. in need of acquiring land because the owner of
., the land wants to construct a cinema house over it and the
institution does not want that a .cinema should. be cons-
tructed .over the same.
G
It is clear by the above circuinstances that the land is
not so much required by. the institution as for the construction
·of the cinema house. Therefore, T would request you to consi·
der the matter and if your aim is that the.cinema house is not
constructed you may resort to other means."
(underlining ours) H
1014 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 3 S.C.R.
I
Jn the meantime on December 16, 1971, Joint Secretary to the
A
Government of U.P. wrote to the District Magistrate enquiring as
to 'whether in granting the certificate of approval, Rule 7 (2) of the
1951 Rules was violated ; What is the sphere of the activities of the
Sammelan ; does it undertake teaching or "other such activities by
virtue of which it may be placed in the category of Educational
.B Institutions ; if for some other reasons, construction of cinema
house on proposed site is against public interest, seek Government's
approval in this respect specifying the. reasons thereon ; obtain.
written objections from the Sammelan ; if required take Govern-
ment's approval making recommendations ; and intimate· whether·
cinema building will be sound-proof.' On March 24, 1972, the
District Magistrate as the licensing authority sent a detailed reply
inter.alia stating that the Sammelan is not an educational institution
nor a residential institution and it bas no regular Jrog;amme of class
teaching and. it cannot be styled as an educational institution
within the meaning of the 'expression in rule 7. He also opined
that having regard to all relevant factors and other circumstances
construction of a cinema building on the proposed site is not against
the public interest. He also opined that tne ~pproved plans of the
building show·an air-conditioned sound-proof cinema theatre which
would enhance the beautification of the locality and would enrich
E the coffers of the State. ·It was lastly pointed out that the distance.
between the proposed cinema building and the campus of the Sam-
melan was. about 95 feet as crow-fly measure. He co~cluded by
saying that having regard to all the circumstances, he was of the
opinion that public interest in no way would be damaged if the per-
mission is granted for construction of the cinema house in question
on the proposed s.ite, and that he was proceeding to grant permis-
F
sion to the applicant which is being forwarded to the Government.
After the receipt of the permission, the old existing building on Plot !
No. 26 was demolished by the petitioner and construction of a
modern cinema theatre folly air-conditioned and sound-proof was
commenced. On August 7, 1983, the Sammelan moved a formal
G application requesting for initiating acquisition proce<;dings of land
included in Plot No. 26 as it was needed by the Sammelan for the'
purpose of extension of Hi~di Sangrahalya (Museum!. Skipping
over some of the intermediate steps including a request to the then

ff
DisTT. MAGISTRATE v. R. R. JAISWAL (Desai, J.) 1015

Prime Minister to intervene and thwart the cinema project, when the
first notification nnder Sec. 4 (!) was published, the purpose for A
which the land was to be acquired was shown to be 'e~tension of
Hindi Sangrahalya at Hindi Sahitya Sam me Ian Prayag'.

Way back on July 22, 1949, the Sammelan with a view to esta
blishing a museum in connection with a Hindi University approach- B
ed the Allahabad Municipal Board to transfer a middle school build-
ing along with the Gymnacia attached to it. The Municipal Board .
unanimously sanctioned the proposal to handover the building of the
school with appurtenant land situated at Kanta Prasad Kakkar Road
. (that is ihe road on which the irritating cinema theatre has come up)
"""'\."" to the sammelan subject to the condition that the Sammelan would
c
· ' construct a school building at South Malaka at a cost of Rs. 30,000.
The Sammelan accepted the condition and complied with it. The
Government accorded sanction to the proposal on September 9, 1953
and since then the school building with the land over which it is
standing and the Gymnacia were transferred to the Samnielan. It is D
an admitted position that an area of 7315 sq. yds. of land in the
Sammelan campus is lying vacant, open and _unutilised till today,.
that is for thirty'two years. This will have a direct impact on the
alleged need of the Sam me Ian of the land propsed to be acquired.
At the time of taking over the school building, the Sammelan had
contemplated putting up a museum. That again is the purpose for- E
which the land involved in this appeal is sought to be acquired at
the instance of the Sammelan. When this rather disturbing position
emerged on analysis and evaluation of uncontroverted facts, it was
suggested that the Sammellan wanted to construct a building for
Natyashala and Rangmanch for which plans have not been prepared.
All these inconvenient facts found reflection in the order sheet of F

' \
the Collector dated September 3, 1973 in which it is. stated that
"since the authorities of the Samrnelan have capacity to approach
the highest authority of the democratic Government as is evident
from the letters received from their office, the office is not capable
to offer any comments whatever might be the proposal whether It is
G
according. to the rules or against the rules or the same should be
allowed to remain as it is etc." Later on the Sammelan stated that
after the land is acquired, it would be utilised for implementation of
some new schemes. Thus though the Sammelan indisputably bad
and has open land in its posssession from 1953 till 1973, it did not
construct the museum for ·which it had obtained land from the II
1016 SUPl\EME COUI\T· l\EPORTS [19851 3 s.c.R.

Allahabad Municipal Board. That apart it again moved the Govern-
A
ment for acquiring the land of the petitioner under the pretext that
it is needed for constructing a museum. When the facts counter-indi·
cated the purported need, it came out with a suggestion that it pro·
posed to construct Natyashalaa:nd Rangmanch. One may in passing, ,
a bit humourously note that Natyashala is a place where dramatic
B performances 'are staged and Rangmanch is a place where dances
are performed. The Sammelan would put up with them. That would
show that such performances would not be destructive of edu-
cational and cultural environment of the campus of the Sammelan
but a modern air-conditioned sound-proof cinema building wonld.
We leave this without comment. But as these proposals failed to
c carry conviction, its latest stand is that let the land come, they
would devise schemes for its proper utilisation as and when the
land is made available. This demonstrates the hollowness of the
alleged need and removes the veil thereby disclosing the real pur·
pose for acquiring the land.
D
Mr. Kacker urged that quitting the quibbling so far resorted
to, the Court may examine a forthright submisson that the Sam•
melan's interest in getting the land acquired is not merely to con·
struct Sangrahalya bnt it is equally if not more interested in not
having a cinema theatre at the place where it is being constructed.
E Shorn of embellishment, the Sam me Ian would not tolerate the thea-
tre and therefore when it failed to thwart the grant of certificate
of approval and cinema theatre came up, it took the second step to
achieve the first mentioned object viz. seek acquisition of land to
satisfy an imaginary or non-existent need. The challenge on the
ground of legal mala !ides to the validity of the notification under
F Sec. 4 (1), a preliminary ~tep in the process of acquisition has to be
examined, evaluated and answered in the backdrop of these facts.

It can be stated without fear of contradiction that need of the
land for Sangrahalya is a figment of imagination conjured up to
G
provide an ostensible purpose for acquisition. There is enough land
roughly admeasuring 7315 sq. yds. lying vacant and unutilised with
the Sammelan for over a quarter of a century. The Sangrahalya has
not come up though this was the land which was taken from the
Municipal Board for the avowed object of putting up a Sangrahalya.
The Sammelan moved on to Rangamanch and Natyashala and then
H ultimately adopted a position that when the land is made available,
D!STT. MAGISTRA'I'B v. R.R. JAISWAL (Desai, J,) 1017

schemes will be devised for its pioper use. Could it be said with
A
confidence that the Sammelan was ever interested in acquiring the
land for effeCtiJating any of its objects. It has neither the plans nor
the wherewith4fs'nor any specific object for which it needs land and
it is unable to use over years the land already available at its dis·
posal. Therefore, Mr. Kacker took bold and to some extent an
imaginative stand. He said that in seeking acquisition of the land, B
the Sammelan is actuated by a desire not to have the cinema theatre
in its vicinity or if it has come into existence, to do away with the
same. Wheri these facts stare into the face, can it be said with confi·
dence that the Government or the Collector in whom the power to
acquire land is vested, exercised the power for the purpose for which
~ it is vested or are they guilty of legal mala !ides. c
. '·
The High Court disposed of the contention by an over-simpli-
fication of this tangled web of facts without making the least attempt
at unearthing the real motives of the Sammelan. The tell tale facts
disclose motives and unravel hidden objects. · The High Court by D
passed them by simply observing that there is nothing on record to
indiCate that the Collector or the State Government are inclined to
act against the petitioner for any improper motives. The High Court
unfortunately missed the real contention of legal mala fides, as also
an important piece of evidence that the Collector on whom the
statute confers power to initiate proceeding for acquisition himself E
was satisfied that Sammelliln sought acquisition not because it requires
the land but it wants to stop or do away with the cinema theatre,
This becomes evident from the letter of the District Magistrate
dated November 8, 1971.
F

l It is well-settled that where power is conferred to achieve a
certain purpose, the power can be exercised only for achieving that
purpose. Sec. 4 (I) confers power on the Government and the Col-
lector to acquire land needed for a public purpose. The power to
acquire land is to be exercised for carrying out & public purpose. If
the authorities of the Sammelan cannot tolerate the existence· of a G
cinema theatre in its vicinity, can it be said that such a purpose
would be a public purpose? May be the authority of the Sammelan
may honestly believe that the existence of a cinema theatre may
have the pernicious tendency to vitiate the equcational and cultural
environment of the institution and therefore, it wouU like to wish H
HHS SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] 3 S.C.R. ·

A away a cineina theatre in its vicinity. That hardly constitutes public
purpose. We have already said about its proclaimed need of land
for putting up Sangrahali a. It is an easy escape route whenever Sam-
melan wants to take over some piece of land. Therefore, it can ·be
fairly concluded that the Sammelan was actuated by extraneous and
•
irrelevant considerations in seeking acquisition of the land the statu-
B
tory authority having known this fact yet proceeded to exercise
statutory power and initiated the process of acquisition. Does this
constitute legal mala fides ?

Where power is conferred to achieve a purpose it has been
c repeatedly reiterated that the power must be exercised reasonably
and in good faith to effectuate the purpose. And in this context 'in
good faith' means 'for legitimate reasons'. Where power is exercised
for extraneous or irrelevant considerations or reasons, it is unques-
tionably a colourabfe exercise of power or fraud on power and
the exercise of power is vitiated. If the power to acquire land
D
is to be exercised, it must be exercised bona fide for the statutory
purpose and for none other. If it is exercised for· an extraneous,
irrelevant or non-germane consideration, the acquiring authority
can be charged with legal mala fides. In such a situation there
is no question of any personal ill-will or motive: In Municipal
E Council of Sydney v. Comp'ell(1l it was observed that irrelevant con-
siderations on which power to acquire land is exercised, would vitiate
compulsory purchase orders or scheme depending on them. In State
of Punjab v.Gurdial Singh & Ors.(') acquisition of land for construc-
ting a grain market was challenged on the ground of legal malafides.
Upholding the challenge this Court speaking through Krishna Iyer,
F J. explained the concept of legal malafides in his hitherto inimitable
language, diction and style and observed as under :

"Pithily put, bad faith which invalidates the exercise of
power-sometimes called colourable exercise or fraud on
power .and oftentimes overlaps motives, passions and satis-
G factions-is the attainment of ends beyond the sanctioned
purposes of power hy simulation or pretension of gaining
a legitimate goal. If the use of the power is for the
fulfilment of a legimate object the actuation or cataly·

H
(t) [1925] A.C. 338 at 375.
(2) [1980] 1 S.C.R. 1071.
blsu. MAGISTRATE v. R. it. JAlsWAL (Desai J.) ·· iot9
sation by malice is not legicidal. The action is bad A
where the trne object is to reach an end different from the
one for which the power is entrnsted, goaded by extraneous
considerations, good or bad, but irrelevant to the entrust-
ment. When the custdian of power is influenced in its
exercise by considerations outside those for promotion of
which the power is vested the court calls it a colourable B
exercise and is undeceived by illusion. In a broad, blurred
sense, Benjamin Disraeli was not off the mark even in Law
when he stated : "I repeat ... that all power is a trnst-that
we are accountable for its exercise-that, from the people,
and for the people, all springs, and all must exist." c
After analysing the factual matrix, it was concluded that the
land was not needed for a Mandi which was the ostensible purpose
for which the Jarid was sought to be acquired but in truth and
reality, the Mandi. need was hijacked to reach the private destination
of depriving an eneiny of his land through back-seat driving of the D
statutory engine. The notification was declared invalid on the
ground that it suffers from legal mala fides. The case before us is
much stronger, far more disturbing and unparalelled in influencing
official decision by sheer weight of personal clout. The District
Magistrate was chagrined to swallow the bitter pill that .he was
forced to acquire land even thougji he was personally convinced E
there was no need but a pretence. Therefore, disagreeing with the
High Court, we are of the opinion that the power to acquire land
was exercised for an extraneous and irrelevent purpose and it was
colourable exercise of power, namely, to satisfy the chagrin and
anguish of the Sammelan at the coming up of a cinema theatre in F
the vicinity of its campus, which it vowed to destroy. Therefore,
. the impugned notification bas to be declared illegal and invalid for
this additional ground.

The validiiy of the impugned notification was also challenged
on the ground that even though the acquisition is for the Sammelan, G
a company, the notification was issued without first compiying with
the provisions of rule 4 of the Land Acquisition (Companies) Rules,
1963. The High Court has negatived this challenge. We must frankly
confess that.the contention canvassed by Mr. Nariman in this behalf
would necessitate an indepth examination of the contention. How-
ever, we consider it unnecessary in this case to undertake this exer-
II
io26 SUPREME COURT RBP0RT$
•
t19ss1 3 s.c.R..
A cise because the judgment of the High Court is being upheld for
the additional reason that the acquisition in this case was mala fide.
Therefore, we do not propose to examine the contention under this
head.
For the reasons which appealed to the High Court and for
B the additional reasons herein stated, the appeal preferred by the
Collector and the District Magistrate and another fails and is dis-
missed while the appeal on the grant of special leave to the peti-
tioner is hereby partly allowed to the extent herein indicated. Sub-
stantially, the Civil Appeal No. 2458 of 1975 fails and is dismissed
with no orders as to costs.
c

Appeal dismissed and Petition a/low d.