Sri B R Pathi vs The Special Land Acquisition Officer on 6 October, 2010

[Cites 3, Cited by 0]

Karnataka High Court

Sri B R Pathi vs The Special Land Acquisition Officer on 6 October, 2010

Equivalent citations: 2011 AIR CC 583 (KAR), 2011 (1) AIR KANT HCR 247, AIR 2011 (NOC) (SUPP.) 1183 (KAR.), (2011) 4 KANT LJ 307

Bench: D.V.Shylendra Kumar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BA%§f;C"Ah'REW

DATED THES THE 6"' DAY OF OCTOBER, 2010

BEFORE

THE HONBLE MR. JUSTICE D.v.sHYLENI)I2A KUMAH fﬁj A  '

W.P.No. 9819/2008 {LA--F:<ES}jE..:' 
BETWEEN: V'  

SR1. B.R.PA'I'HI,  
s/o LATE SMT. R.RAMARATHNAM1wA' *   

& SR1. B.S.RAJAGOPALA  2 

AGED ABOUT 39 YEARS.  

R/AT No.4, 7TH CROSS...  E

KATRIGUPPE,    I    
BANGALORE--560_QL_5._. _   :v--v..'..I5}13§T'I'l'IONI+3R

{BY SR1. ARAVIND. ADif.;;I«fo'I?'  I.  V
SR1. P.M.NAr~I.I.AV'I1EDI;w;¥ at-s_RI. S.C;BHUTI, ADVS.]

AND:  '- '

1. THE SPECIAL LANDAGTQUISITION
OFFICER,' NA'l'IONAL HIGH WAYS
FOR HIGH WAY. N__Q.7,

- A  -- HOSUR ROAD,
* 
' .;BAHGA.LoRE_1.. 560 002.

2.'  
s /Q "B, K. LAKSHMAIAH,
AGEQWMAJOR.

-  B.L.BABU.
V s/0 13.K.LAKsHMAIAH,
 AGED MAJOR.



4. SRI. B.L.SOI\/IASHEKAR,
S/O B.K.LAKSHMAIAH,
AGE-D MAJOR.

5. SR}. E.L.RAJSHEKAR,
S/O B.K.I..AKSI-IMAIAH,
AGED MAJOR. 

6. SR}. B.L.SANTI-IANA KRISHNA, 
S/O B.K.LAKSI-IMAIAH, *
AGED MAJOR.

RESPONDENTS 2 TO 6 ARE ALL 
R/AT BOMMANAHALLI VILLAGE; "-»
BEGUR I-IOBLI,      "
I-IOSUR MAIN ROAD, "    _ 
BANGALORE SOUTH_T_A'LUKI_  "

7. BANGALORE CIHY CO-OPERATIVE' BANK,
BANGALOR; 560 0.18.3 I  * I
REP, ..BY_I'1"S_ MP;N4AG.ER_ '    RESPONDENTS

(BY SR1, N;B.'.IISEWAI~IA*rI1;" AGA FOR R1

SRI.'«SUDEEP,'A:)v'.'--~FOR~"
M/S SING-HA1*E_LA'&"PARTNERS, ADVS. FOR R1
SR1. B.C';S_EETI-IARAMA RAO, ADV. FOR R7

, 'R2 "F0 5 SERVED,

- .I._N'Oi'I'ICE fro R6 I-IELD SUFFICIENT}

 .  PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLE 226

OF CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO QUASI-I
 DATED 4.1.2007 {ANNEXURE -- B) AND THE

'H.«,_I*.,ORDER_DATED 27.5.2008 (ANNEXURE MD) ISSUED BY THE
V " xRAI.=__AS  SAME IS ILLEGAL, ARBITRARY AND IN
  OF PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL JUSTICE.

THIS WRIT PETITION COMING ON FOR FURTHER

I I}: " "ORDERS THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING;



ORDER

Issue ruie.

2. This matter has come up for

3. The order passed by »(1:0Lir':._T reads as under : it 1 l l A "This writ petition} listed'-Jfor 'talting steps in respect ufnserved" 6'5"

respondent. 'I t l ' = . 7'n\O . that 6""

responClen't.___ -fjfesidiznlce at Bomrn lie; Beau Hobli, is the same 2 to 5, who are all VlllbroihersVA'.oj'«.:.u~"d6i"* respondent, being .. lclhiidrenll hmaiah, are residing. Resporidents 2 to 5 are served but are not repfrepselnvtéd.

In the circumstances, learned V " _counsel for the petitioner has ﬁled a memo for holding service on 63* respondent as sufficient as the notice issued to 6m respondent has been returned with postal shara "no such person" and "address insufficient" on two different occassions when notice was sought to be served on"*---_ him, where as his brothers respondents?'jbbtjd-. to 5 have been served at address and acknowledgeITLerits"1::'_';v having received notices: if them,' :;_t available in Court records.

In the circurrzs.ta:fnces_,g' se'rv1.'cef of notice on 6th respicéndegntjis '4f'i£fld'S.L1_ﬂ'iCi€nf. iS;'su:,ed.= perusal of the passed by V Acquisition rnore illegality and evena . possibie'fraudulent order being _§C'passed"' the first respondent to the of the petitioner and for it -VVierii'ichiiig.?respondents 2 to 6, particularly '' 6"? respondent.

Even while there was a dispute and tithe matter was required to be referred to the Civil Court for resolution of the dispute, the Land Acquisition Officer has ventured to determine the entire entitlement on his 5 own and to the exclusion of the petitioner held that respondents 2 to 6 are entitled to-.___ receive the entire compensation arriou_'rIet.:'f«..t_:"'«V which is not a small sum. Therefore{§rfirs'tp:*i:{T respondent is directed to be pres_ent--ljefore the Court along with :_ 10-2010, as requested Government _' Furnish copy" larder. go teamed --.

4. Writ.-petition for quashing Amerugg dead dated 4.1.2007) and Annexi1re"--D order dated 27.5.2008) and for fnrtherléanaendment "to direct the 15' respondent -- the Acqiiisition Officer, National High Ways for Bangalore , to refer the dispute between the-pet.itiori'er -- the owner and respondents 2 to 7. A. 5;' "On the other hand, the Civil Court has resolved "question as to the entitlement and apportionment of ""eompensation payable in respect of the 5 guntas of 6 land, which has a superstructured measuring about 506 Sq. nits. in Sy. No.3 of Bomrnanahalii ViI1age,'e'f3'egur Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk, in respect first respondent had determined the--« payable to the land owner:

Rs.79,59,961/--. :

6. In terms of An'r1e"xure-- "v.£fV.Vai"fZ'L "dated 04.01.2007 passed th'ed""Sp.:é4cia1-._LandV"AcVquisition Officer and Authorised effect to in terms of fu1'ti':«epr* order (copy at Ar1ne2:§1_A1re~'I)V7VVt'c.'i;hefpetiti'o.n') passed by the Special Land Acquisition' hf'-;1.I4t1'1OI'iS(3C1 Officer copy of which is pfiodiiced at"Annexure~D to the petition, wherein, the 'petitioners'4arrayed as parties claimants in the foliowing order against the present respondents 2 to 6 (Mr; .]3V"l«:_,..SVridhar, Mr.B.L.Babu, Mr. B.L.Somashekar, A If/fr0.'B;.L.Rajshekar, Mr.B.L.Santhana Krishna) to this

0. petition as rivais to the proceedings in the following order.

7. Under this order, the Special Land Acquisition Officer, purporting to resoive the competing Veiaims between the petitioner and the responptiente:ffor entitiement and apportionment of the amount in respect of 5 gunta;3"'of'i.an§:1, of which the compensation is fa Rs."/9,59,961/-- in terms of tii.e:"awart1 . ea¢3é.§"yve--:'j4 _ ' a~uj,.@_,mabc; 30333 ~ ttnogrseaigx nmaa a"rici)a?/0053') a5rt$riVpC3.§a'Jarfi(j.§;;'5..V s9:§Ae;2o;%f5;ajg;'~V--ég§r:3a03)r% zéorigirado _c:5z§,_m ~251°'rfi0cii)_ f7E)ﬁIi)C5 X1560.

soc; oaogqfe 506 23.m°. (0-05 mow) imaged 2,332.25 9%» geaoeasc a5,saasas0.;2s;9z3it';i;>a5::,m 0i2¢aJae-aevs'ea)§_m0veaa:oa). V nar.:i><:5.«_%.;de:3£"~ m}f,mé'_=.. éaggéi 9055530 aboawafiri 5-déaoci 5503 :scx.j' ' V' "£2300 '- n. was ~.

adaasao aria?) caaroaciaidi 531933 sﬁaxidiaijaia = zuocziéd 1 7959951-00 a3.cJe>=i®_,,e:;3of, 5309951 seamen? mg.» * 'gs.-«:m;;;'(o-- a.me:v*.a3aw, eaamjajcjos A V. .05;-kboaé) a0.oJe1v"g'irara'i>a'e9.>0°", same 5510.34 z3.oJc:=f.0a2:a5mo€ 5035 mass 'adv. aka. 23.930" :5030a5z3§c1 23900/idatigi. 9-9 95 0 (ifc?.R503 + aarba éegpaé aioriéaada ms ans» 1650000. e3.oar3é'ri5"a€@°'o eaadcieésw' 21305036', ace' 530:; aimazfa) axe, aormcig ma 2J95?33U9?:#<3r"t"-3 ' » ' 0. "«5%ie»-g.c:vac3e=&.3a7°"

' 0 0' = f f = ..f3.3i«:3?&:'tJ«32g . " warm,' «aid "_{5t3Ei)"0)F3»> 0 a --}w>e')V . &m_tj)&jaOC3«_ _.

ado;-_5.~' mg 306 10.50 5%, d/arieéaigi wmcfﬂaérgﬁo as agaréé _ ' macaw ' ' 3 $ 30330132: 0093 aﬁowaci 4, .:~39wéXu5é,1z:i>.

aa;e¢5m5;: §é.ﬁc:5 aﬁoaaaoaiig cmaﬁézien t:;§dra%»_%ii§;=§,, _ u "

to Engiishz Compensation in reepetii" of 506 Sq. mts. (5 guntas) to ~1'?:3v;'_i,.Ba¥:>u, B.L.Somasheka__r,_ B.L.Rajshekar, Krishna are entitled for a sum of /- in total. Bangalore City Co--operative A Chaznarajpet, Barzgaiere, is entitled for sum of t ...R§,.18,50,000/~ be-mg amount that the bank can claim V due to the loan raised by one Mr. B.L.Ganesh -on the security of the property and therefore, the said amount representing his share in the compensation amount in respect of 5 guntas of land acquired is to to the Bank.

9. The above order petitioner amongst clairnan-ts' . applicants /claimants in the l-- /NH- 7/BHRC/CR/29/O6aO'7iV:d'.--d'ate§:l:} [copy at Annexure--D the it even Without seeking resolution by a civil court of sub--section [4] of section 3H.__of the I\aTation:al4Highways Act, 1956 [for short , _ 'the reading .as___u.nder:

it ﬁe-posit and payment of amount -- [4_}" any dispute arises as to the apportionment of the amount or any part .A thereof or to any person to whom the same V "-.or any part thereof is payable, the V' competent authority shall refer the dispute to the decision of the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land is situated." 10 and the writ petitioner being left high and dry by this course of action claiming that the petitioner has no other remedy to redress the injury, namely,.._.lth.te' denial of the compensation to which _ entitled to in law being son of along with one B R Sampanlgiramaiahi. Srinivasagupta [claimants fl special land acquisition the petition for the relief as noticed_above,.-- '

10. EIn'e;fgenti1._notiee issued to the resporidents.. are all served.

_-11. 'respcriclent -- special land acquisition 'A if *"Whoi.was represented initially by the Additional *-.(.lever1irnentf'jAdvocate, is now represented by M/s. Partners and Mr. Sudeep, Advocate Vp"appears--' for the first respondent, who has now come up 'as"'s*accessor to the Additional Government Advocate "who was appearing for the special land acquisition officer earlier and who it appears is now Advocate for 11 the first respondent for the reason that the National Highway Authorities for whose benefit the was being acquired, namely, for the construction of 'elevated highwayiand it way on the National Highway Bangalore Hosur Highway the VNat.iojnal'-miiighwaylV'V who were earlier dep'enden.t"'ori._:'the__State"Government and its special land purpose of acquisition for appears having now of their own officers and the officers from the State (as by the use of the revenue ofticiais)..»the'- revenue department may be they V. --Ahad'--bu»1'nt"'their and had a bitter experience. i " 1v.'.?V..' vvith this background and in this state of ihave heard both Mr. N B Vishwanath, learned it 'v~:i_"Avddi't_iona1 Government Advocate who had filed power for the first respondent earlier and Mr. Sudeep, learned counsel who appears for first respondent as of now. 12

13. Be that as it may, some of the other respondents though served have remained absent. While the seventh respondent is representedppbj Seetharama Rao, learned Advocate is not H

14. It is in this background', thejrnatter:ilhatlboﬁie up before this court earlier"'*-and the as'-it indicated in the beginning oVf.th;is._oi'der. .' is 15. Mr. pSeenapp:l'a._ special land acquisition ?_oft'it;j:ser .\'%;rho:_ "has passed the order at Annexure'--D.:':ivf,i_S the court and has furnished his and particulars which is alsorﬁtceived kept the record of the writ petition. ~ 1.Seenappa G V has stated that he has been t1'ansferre§i':' touthe office of the Deputy Commissioner, Childtaballapur and now it is attached to the Urban V' f"IAA)pe\dfelopment Cell of Chikkaballapur Town with the designation 'Project Director' and has been functioning so for the past about two years; that he had continued as a special land acquisition officer till November 2008 13 and thereafter he is working in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Chikkaballapur. V

17. With regard to the special land acquisition ofﬁcer_,sta_tes ' remember the details at this records are looked into.l»-Ielfowever, i learned Additional ll,_%\dV'Q§atel,' whdihad ﬁled power earlier pleads not-'._available today and given before the court.

Thevfspecialylaiid acquisition officer was directedbefore the court only for the rea'sor1_°that the-e___manner of disbursement of a huge ' ,i_l_l1"Il'iQE7A.1i'l_tV"'Clf.':.RS.79,59,961/W in favour of only a few persons, too who had figured as rivals in the application filed by as many as seven persons amongst A "ll ﬁgured the petitioner as ﬁfth applicant and to the exclusion of all private applicants except for the Manager, City Co--operative Bank Limited, Bangalore §;//r 14 who has been apportioned a sum of Rs.16,50,000/-- as the amount belonging to one B L Ganesh who again ﬁgured as second respondent or a second rival in7t_he application, only indicates that the entire'_.:§rnoungt been disbursed in favour of .pers_o'ns"*--figuring as"

rivals to the determination dated.27;','_5:fl7.008 in favour of the applicaIilts'~.though_' inu..of the-if statutory provisions noticed.-aboveguthe 'disbursement of the amount should have'awaited':'determination by the civil court it ofwthe special land acquisition" to,:have_ll'"referred the matter for resolution'-- whereas the special land acquisition" ofﬁcer himself embarked upon such = detennfina'tion andleven disbursement. ' V . l course of action is not contemplated in the detriment of the petitioner and others who were applicants before the special land acquisition officer in the proceedings dated 27.5.2008, naturally wereates an impression of the special land acquisition ofﬁcer acting in a hasty and preemptive manner to the 15 detriment of the petitioner and possibly due to any collusion between the special land acquisition' and the beneﬁciaries who have received the~'.arnou.r1tl§" --

20. Mr. Seenappa, the speciiallland~..lacdui'sitie:gn ofﬁcer who is before the.7cQ.urtVlh,as statedjvthVatl3 amount has been disbursed bylhthelvspeicial land acquisition officer the authorities by means of cheques rn'ade::'oyer_',t'o ..li:h.e:'»'lrespondents in ._fur'tli'er determination dated terms of 27-5-29.08'lV{'Ckj'p3'5Z;::' ,at--..j'Agr1he:§1:ire-5D] and this is the deveIoprncnt.'for further details he Wili have to referllto the records.

ye 'fh.i_s exercising the power of judicial o_f,el\«'i'_9'V'.'l7 ad_rrii.riistrative action will only look into the orders ..passed by the administrative authorities and ]qi1a_si judicial authorities as to the legality and the

-_t'c_nability of such orders and will not normally embark it 'on either enquiring into the conduct and manner of 5 functioning of such ofﬁcials nor is it necessary for other 16 quasi judicial functionary to appear before this court and explain the manner of conducting the proceedings, as a quasi judicial function is not administrative function but is a with a judicial determination b7Lit"i'_)'yi« functionary. In such a situation;-the functionary has to act provisions and nothin:g~~»else';ff 1, .

22.. Yet another:_'pecui,ia.r 'aspect this case which is obvious,' V ' is passed by the predecessor "f name C. Mohammed Kaieemuiiaht, land acquisition officer an_di,further ordenisv passed by the successor special officer, namely, Seenappa G V., Who is present' beforefthe court today. .. While the award per se cannot be found fault _' witii"as it is a determination of compensation in respect "of lands acquired, in the absence of a further reference sought to the civil court for enhancement etc., there is 17 no need to quash this award per se whether the award is passed bona fide or otherwise.

24. While the award if not necessary to examine the "

the award is passed by the then'»,spe'cial officer as the whole proceedings possible favoritism, llvictirrlizration of persons like the petitioner..

25. Inf' order dated 27 land acquisition officer is r1otVll"suustaina_blle'w.liri..;_:laI.rV at all as the entitlement between the petitionerlllland other competitors should 'l V. '~haVVel:.be"en l'i'esolVedmonly by the civil court and not by the A*~special..lfiand'-_-acquisition officer. Therefore, it is inevitable quash the order at Annexure--D by issue of it writ of certiorari.

26. Therefore while writ petition is allowed and rule is made absolute, it is further necessary to ensure awareness to the manner in which said proceedings go 18 on and particularly in the matter of land acquisition proceedings and the further manner of identifyiwngﬁihe persons who are entitled for receiving apportionment if there are competing .clairn_s etc...' in

27. As this court is to enquiry nor is it petition on board only for such General of this court is directed""'t'o.- of this order along the Karnataka to hold an inquiry' under which the said awards ltol'l3ev.l::_ll.passed by the special land , g_ acqdisiti'on oflic'er,.._.a.I1d also in the matter of determining the -.confipe_nsat.ion to the land owners whose land had to facqnired in the context of the scheme known as constrnction of 'elevated highway and six lane A way on the National Highway No.7 at 8.50 kilometer' on Bangalore I-Iosur Highway. 19

28. The Karnataka Lokayukta also to enquire into the conduct of the special land acquisition had passed the Award and also into the bona ﬁdes of the special land aciquisitiorig V passed the order at Annexure--D1zVandA*A.to to its logical conclusion, to"-«a:scertaiIi._if development, misconduct course of such enquiry. l _ l l h l

29. The":rrjatt<3:if is A the Karnataka Lokayuktal notice of the level such acquisition proceedings exchequer being drained at the cost of it the 'State and the citizens, to 'enrich the priyate persons whether they are entitled to l"sucl1gconipensa'tion or otherwise and bona ﬁde users of land, who the reai land owners are being left in the gluyrch 'while trespassers, outsiders, tricksters are igcolnferred with bounties by the special land acquisition "officer by misusing and abusing their power in an arbitrary and whimsical manner. 20

30. It is for this reason, the matter requires further enquiry, investigation, scrutiny and examination at the hands of the Karnataka Lokayukta, to tallieupthe proceedings to its logical conclusion.

31. If any such misconduct Ki found about said land open to the State Government personaily from them if to the beneﬁciaries or the the misuse or abuse of poweriby officers.

is that the first respondent should amount already disbursed in fav.vour..tVAof.v_ the 'lire-spondents is recovered and kept in the civil court, to abide by the by the civil court for the entitlement amongst the Various persons who ﬁgured in the order dated 27.5.2008 [copy at Annexure W D to the writ petition].

33. A writ of mandamus is issued to the first respondent -- special land acquisition officer to refer the matter to the civil court in terms of subwsect'ion'v.of section 3-H of the Act and the amount it recovered forthwith from the pcf:rso'n;~ w'ho.;«h:a'v'e_ al1'ead§r received to be deposited before co1.,p1V1_§»'L_A_'p' . 2 3'

34. Such course of initiated within three months outcome placed before the ciVii" to be placed before the. _with:f reference order.

35. forthwith and at any rate not later the date of receipt of a copy of Vti€ais:oi"der. 3 A' Sd/-3 Tudge

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