[15. Power to acquire land, etc.- (1) Any land required by the Highway Authority for discharging its functions under this Act shall be deemed to be the land needed for a public purpose and such land may, on a request being received from the Authority, be acquired by the State Government for the said Authority under the provisions of this Act.
(2) On the Highway Authority approaching the State Government as provided under sub-section (1) with such requisition and the State Government being satisfied that for a public purpose any land is required for the building, maintenance, management or operation of a highway or part thereof, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention to acquire such land :
Provided that, if the land intended to be acquired is situated in the Scheduled Area, before declaring its intention to acquire such land, the State Government or the officer authorised in this behalf shall consult, in such manner as may be laid down by the State Government by a general or special order issued in this behalf,-
(i) the Gram Sabha or Panchayat concerned, if the land is falling within the limits of a village ;
(ii) the Panchayat Samiti concerned, if the land is falling within the limits of more than one villages in a Block.
(iii) the Zilla Parishad concerned, if the land is falling within the limits of more than one Blocks, in a District.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-section,-
(i) the expressions "Gram Sabha" and "Scheduled Area" shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1958 (Bom. III of 1959);
(ii) the expressions "Panchayat Samiti" and "Zilla Parishad" shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961 (Mah. V of 1962).
(3) Every notification issued under sub-section (2), shall give a brief description of the land.
(4) Any officer authorised by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, for acquisition of land for the purposes of this Act (hereinafter called as "the Land Acquisition Officer"), shall cause the substance of the notification to be published in two local newspapers, one of which will be in a vernacular language.