LexNARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN versus STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
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A B (2011) 12 S.C.R. 84 NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN v. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH (Civil Appeal No.3726 of 2011) JULY 26, 2011 [J.M. PANCHAL, DEEPAK VERMA AND DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, JJ.] Land Acquisition - Construction of dam in the State of C M.P. - Re-settlement and Rehabilitation policy for oustees - Entitlement of oustee to claim land or compensation in lieu of the land acquired - Order dated 7-6-1991 passed by Narmada Valley Development Department (NVDD) amending Clause 5. 1 of the Re-settlement and Rehabilitation D Policy, 1991 (R & R Policy) - Challenge to - Held: The chronological development of amendment of R & R Policy reveals that Clause 3 of the R & R Policy provided for entitlement of oustees to get land in lieu of the land acquired - Clause 5 prescribed only the procel'ure for allotment of land E under Clause 3 of the R & R Policy - Amendment of R & R Policy on 7-6-1991 only facilitated those oustees who were not willing to take the land in lieu of the land acquired - Such amendment was brought on demand of the oustees as an alternative - However, it did not take away the right of the F oustees to claim land in lieu of the land acquired, for the simple reason that there was no amendment in year 1991 to Clause 3.2 of the R & R Policy and amendment to the said Clause 3.2 incorporated on 27.4.2002 is not under challenge - The amendment under challenge simply facilitated an oustee to claim compensation instead of land - This may be G for the reason that oustee may be willing to settle in another State or in urban area or want to adopt any other vocation! profession or want to start any other business - However, it did not take away the right of any oustee to claim land in lieu of the land acquired. H 84 NARMADA BACHAO ANDOLAN v. STATE OF 85 MADHYA PRADESH. Land acquisition - Construction of dam in the State of A M.P. - Re-settte_ment and Rehabilitation policy for oustees - Entitlement of landless labourers to agricultural land - Held: The Re-settlement and Rehabilitation Policy, 1991 (R & R Policy) made it clear that there was no provision for allotment of agricultural land to the landless labourers - The appellant 8 mistakenly relied on the clearance letter by the Ministry of Welfare to say that granting land to landless labourers was a precondition for granting clearance to the project - Even if allotment of land to landless labourers is regarded as a condition, the Government of M.P. did not accept such a C condition - The Ministry of Welfare's clearance was not statutory, like any other statutory clearance e.g. clearance granted by Environment and Forest Ministry - The Authorities also treated the same as non-statutory - Thus, the submission made by the appellant that landless labourers were entitled for allotment of agricultural land to the extent of D two hectares is devoid of any merit - Even otherwise, it does not appeal to this Court that a landless labourer could be entitled for allotment of agricultural land admeasuring two hectares - Neither it had ever been contemplated nor it is compatible with R & R Policy - Nor such land had ever been E allotted to this class of persons . . · Administrative Law - Policy and Procedure - Procedure for amendment of policy - Rules of business framed under Article 166 of the Constitution - Rule 7 of the Business Rules, Part II - Cases to be brought before the State Council of Ministers - Issue as to whether the Council of Ministers was permitted to delegate the power to amend its decision to a Committee of Ministers consisting of the Ministers-in-charge F of the Departments concerned and the Chief Minister, and G whether such amendment needed to be consistent with the Rules of Business framed under Article 166 of the Constitution - Held: Rules of Business were directory in nature - Delegation of power was permissible - Constitution of India. 1950 - Article 166. H 86 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011) 12 S.C.R. A In the year 1972, the State of Madhya Pradesh conceived a dam to provide irrigation facilities to farmers. In 1992, a detailed Project Report was prepared and submitted to the State Government and the Final Project Report was approved by Technical Committee of Central 8 Water Commission in 1997. Clearance to the project was given by the Government of India. In 2002 the project was accorded Environmental and Forest clearance. The Cabinet of Ministers in its meeting approved payment of
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