1. In the present days when land is sold at a premium and more so lands which were formerly agricultural lands, even gomal land which have now become part of an urbanized agglomeration, in any place or town, while in Bangalore city, Mysore city or as in the instant case in Davangere town, various devices are adopted to gobble up lands ultimately, particularly by persons who claim themselves to be land developers and builders and one popular method of taking land out of the character of government land is by getting the land in the first instance allotted to an institution on the premise that the institution intends to carry on some educational activities, but the land is later conveniently sold away at a far better price than what was initially spent for allotment etc., on one pretext or the other, and only persons who can buy such lands by paying the market price or near about are persons who are in the business of construction, who are both capable or investing funds and manipulating public authorities for getting permission even for impossible things, and in this unhealthy race for gaining, at the cost of all, sufferers are only persons who with some hope and aspirations might be in occupation and cultivation of the land etc. Developments in this regard had been noticed in the order passed by this Court on 25-07-2011 and are as under:

A government gomal land is a land to be conserved and preserved for pasteurization of village cattle, such was the laudable object under the provisions of the Karnataka object Revenue Act and Rules and even earlier under the Karnataka Land Revenue Code.

2. But no more so, government lands comes in handy for state government, the political bosses, bureaucrats at all levels and more so, at the level of revenue officials starting from the Tahsildar, the Asst Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner who are the revenue authorities making such grants under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, to pass orders granting such gomal lands and such transactions getting the seal of the government also whether it is permitted in law or in consonance with law or not!

3. Subject matter, 3 acres of land in Sy.No.213 of Avaragere Village, Davangere Taluk and District which was without dispute a gomal land was a granted as per order No.LND.CR2.80:91-92 dated 10.5.1994, in favour of the 4th respondent – Educational Institution for construction of a school building etc. and being a government grant, it did carry certain conditions.

4. Such land was permitted to be sold by the State Government on the representation of the grantee to the effect that the granted land was not suitable for starting an educational institution or constructing a school etc. but the permission also carried a condition that a school building should be put up in a like area and it should be at Honnur Grama as was requested by the grantee and that the school building should be constructed within 3 to 4 months.

5. It appears the school building was not constructed at Honnur Grama, but in the meanwhile, the grantee did sell the land and in the bargain made a good profit by selling the subject 3 acres of land in favour of respondent Nos.5 to 8 at a price of `34.00 lakhs for the entire extent of 3 acres of land.

6. For the purpose of the grant it appears the government had also taken steps to de-reserve the gomal land, but writ petitioners claim that they have been in unauthorized occupation, had put up huts therein and have been living in the area for quite sometime. In between and even during the pendency of the writ petition before this court, it appears there was a fire mishap at the spot and about 100 huts burnt in the area as on 23.2.2011.

7. Stand of the government is that the subject land was granted after it was de-reserved in the year 1994 and when once permission was also given to the grantee to sell the land being sold in the year 2007, and thereafter the land being sold in the year 2008, government is no more intere