SARDARMAL LALWANI versus STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS.

Citation: [1973] 3 S.C.R. 52 · Decided: 11-12-1972 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.M. SIKRI · Disposal: Case Allowed

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Judgment (excerpt)

52 
SARDARMAL LALWANI 
A 
v. 
STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS. 
December 11, 1972 
[S. M. SIKRI, C. J., J. M. SHELAT, A. N. RAY, D. G. PALEKAR, 
M. H. BEG, S. N. DWIVEDI AND I. D. DUA, JJ.J 
B 
Land Acquisition Act, 1894 amended by Land Acquisition (Mttdhya 
Pradesh Amendment) Act 5 of 1959-Compensation for land in Bhopal 
area to be on basis of market value as on October 1, 1955-Date fou.nd 
irrelevant-Section 3 Part C of Acts· of 1959, making provisWn for com· 
pensation in Bhopal, area are discriminatory and violt.!tive of Art. 14 of 
Constitutlon. 
C 
The petitioner's land situated in Bhopal area was acquired under the 
provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 as amended by the Land 
Acquisition (Madhya Pradesh Amendment) Act 5 of 1959. The acqui-
sition proceedings were commenced in 1962 and the Land Acquisition 
Officer gave his award in 1963. 
By virtue of Section 3 of the 1959 Act 
the award was given on the basis of the market value of the land as on 
October, I, 1955 plus 25% extra compensation, and not on the basis 
D 
of the market value of the fand on or about the date of acquisition. In a 
petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution, the petitioner contended that 
the impugned Act violated Art. 14 of the Constitution as there was no 
rational classification on the basis of which the prices Of Bhopal area had 
not been &!ermined by the principle by which the market prices of other 
places would be determined. 
HELD : 
The States Reorganisation Commission in its report submit· 
E 
led on September 30, 1955 had recommended that Jabalpur should bt the 
capital of the new State of Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal was made the capi-
tal on November 1, 1956. There was no material to show that on Octo· 
ber I, 1955 it was known that Bhopal may he the capital of the State 
or that there was speculation in land because of this fact. 
In the light 
of the judgment of this Court in Vithal Ralls case s. 3 Part C of the 
impugned Act must be held to be violative of Art. 14 and the petition 
p 
must be allowed. 
[56DJ 
Salish Kumar v. State of M.P., A.I.R. 1961 M.P. 880 referred to. 
Nagpur Improvement Trust v. Vithal Rao, [1973] 
3 S.C.R. 
39, 
applied. 
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition No. 646 of 1970. 
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforce-
ment of fundamental rights.) 
S. Banerjee and P. K. Ghosh, for the petitioner. 
Y. $. Dharmadhikari and !. N. Shroff, for respondent No. 1. 
G 
Naunit Lal, for Advocato-General, Assam (Intervener). 
H 
Santosh Chatterjee and G. S. Chatterjee, for Advocate,General 
Orissa (Intervener) . 
' 
S. LALWANI V. M. P. STATE (Sikri, C, ],) 
53 
A 
O. P. Rana, for Advocate-General,U.P. (Intervener). 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
A. V. Rangam and A. Subhashini, for Advocate-General, 
Tamil Nadu (Intervener). 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Snou, C.J. 
This petition was beard along with Civil Appeals 
Nos. 2139-2140 of 1968. The facts are different but the prin· 
ciples of law to be applied are the same which we have laid down 
in our judgment in Civil Appeal No. 2139 of 1968. 
The facts in this petition are that the Land Acquisition Act, 
1894 was amended by the Land Acquisition (Madhya Pradesh 
Amendment) Act 1959 (Madhya Pradesh Act V of 1959) 
hereinafter referred to as the impugned Act. 
By section 3 of the impugned Act the Land Acquisition Act, 
1894, in its application to Bhopal area, was amended as· follows : 
1. After clause ( g) of Sec. 3 of the Act of 18 94 
a new clause was added defining "Bhopal area". 
2. A new section S. 17 A, was inserted in the Land 
Acquisition Act, 1894, giving to the Government the 
power _to issue a direction to the Collector that it is 
urgently necessary to acquire immediate possession of 
any building site situated in Bhopal area, and providing 
that upon the issue of such a direction the provisions of 
Sec. I 7 would in all respects apply in the case of such 
site as they apply in the case of waste or arable land. 
3. A new proviso was added to the first clause of 
Sec. 23 (I). The proviso runs thus : 
"Provided that when the market-value of any land 
situate in Bhopal area, in respect of which the date of 
publication of. the notification aforesaid is 
after the 
commencement of the Land Acquisition (Madhya Pra-
desh Amendment) Act, 1957 (21 of 1958). is 
in 
excess of its market-value as on the !st day of Octo-
ber, 1955, the market-value thereof shall be deemed to 
be its market-value as on the !st day of October, 1955." 

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