Personal hearing under Section 5A applied to municipal acquisition, and non-compliance invalidated the acquisition order.

Section 284N of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act referentially incorporated Part II of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, so the objection procedure in Section 5A, including the right to personal hearing, applied to acquisitions under Chapter XVI unless expressly excluded by that Chapter or Schedule C. Neither Schedule C nor Schedule B displaced that requirement, and the limited appeal under Schedule B was not a substitute for a statutory hearing before the Commissioner. Section 17(4) did not automatically exclude Section 5A. The stated conclusion is that personal hearing was mandatory and the acquisition order was invalid for non-compliance.

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Issues: Whether the right to personal hearing under Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 was applicable to an acquisition made under Section 284J of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, and whether the absence of such hearing rendered the acquisition invalid.

Analysis: Section 284N of the Bombay Act referentially incorporated Part II of the Land Acquisition Act, including Section 5A, into the acquisition scheme for land under Chapter XVI, subject only to express provisions of that Chapter and Schedule C. The incorporated provision carried with it the mandatory requirement of hearing objections, including personal hearing under sub-section (2). Neither Schedule C nor Schedule B expressly or by necessary implication excluded that right. The procedure under Schedule C contemplated meaningful consideration by the Commissioner before submission to the Standing Committee, which would be defeated if objectors were denied a personal hearing. The appeal provided under Schedule B was confined to limited questions and was not a substitute for the statutory hearing before the Commissioner. Section 17(4) also did not support exclusion of Section 5A, because exclusion under that provision is not automatic.

Conclusion: Section 5A applied, personal hearing was mandatory, and the acquisition order was invalid for non-compliance.

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