Raj Kumar Gangwar and 17 Others v. State of U.P. and 3 Others
Case brief
What is this about?
Allahabad High Court (DB: Manoj Kumar Gupta & Anish Kumar Gupta JJ.), WRIT - C No. 3418 of 2025, decided 4.3.2025; Neutral Citation 2025:AHC:30700-DB. Petitioners (Raj Kumar Gangwar and 17 others) challenged preliminary notification dated 30.12.2024 under Sub Rule 2 of Rule 20 r/w Section 11(1) of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 for Aarazi No. 82 & 83, Village Nawadia Jhada, Pargana Bareilly, Tehsil Sadar, District Bareilly, and sought compensation at residential circle rates and disposal of representation dated 19.10.2024. Held: premature — final notification under Section 19 not issued; right to challenge does not crystallize before final notification; no compensation direction possible before award. Petition dismissed. Keywords: preliminary notification, Section 11(1), Section 19, prematurity, maintainability, land acquisition, award, Bareilly.
What did the court decide?
A Section 11 notification is only a preliminary notification conveying the Government's intent to acquire land; the right to challenge does not crystallize unless it is followed by the final notification (under Section 19), which has not yet been issued and is not under challenge. The challenge is therefore premature.