In Brief
The appellant challenged land acquisition notifications issued in 2008-2009 for a residential-commercial scheme in Khurja, Uttar Pradesh. The State invoked the urgency clause under Section 17(4) of the Land Acquisition Act to dispense with the requirement of holding an inquiry under Section 5A. The Court held that the invocation of urgency was unjustified. The land in question was initially excluded from acquisition but later included based on contradictory and undenied allegations about its location and use. Significant delays between notifications and declarations, combined with absence of relevant material on file justifying real urgency, demonstrated the Government failed to apply its mind properly to this exceptional power. The Court set aside the acquisition, quashed the notifications, and directed return of the property to the appellants.
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