( 1 ) THIS is a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, filed by the petitioners, residents of village Banjari Tahsil and District Indore, who are Bhumiswamis in respect of agricultural lands across which the respondent No. 1 National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. , (for short NTPC), a Generating-Company, is said to be laying over-head lines for transmission of electrical energy and putting up towers for support of those lines. By this petition, the petitioners seek a writ of mandamus restraining the respondents from encroaching upon the fields of the petitioners and from putting up any erection or laying any overhead lines thereon.

( 2 ) ACCORDING to the averments in the petition, the case of the petitioners is that the petitioners intend to establish a housing colony in the aforesaid land and formalities regarding establishment of a colony are almost complete. The respondent NTPC has no authority to lay down overhead lines or erect towers for the same in the fields of the petitioners without following the due process of law and that the respondent has not followed due process of law. The petitioners have not been given any notice of the intention of the respondent NTPC to take overhead lines through their fields or of erecting the towers for support of such overhead lines in the fields of the petitioners. The respondent NTPC not being a licensee has no authority to lay overhead lines for the supply of electricity or erect towers therefor in the fields of the petitioners. The action of the respondent NTPC amounts to unauthorised acquisition of land of the petitioners in violation of Art. 300-A of the Constitution of India. The petitioners rights are being affected without giving a hearing and as such, the action is vitiated for non-compliance of the principles of natural justice. The decision to take the overhead lines over the petitioner's property is either without application of mind or reached mala fide in order to avoid the land being taken from the other fields. The action is arbitrary and violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution of India. ( 3 ) IT is alleged that on 27-6-1987, the petitioners wrote a letter (Annexure-C) to the respondent NTPC and its contractor-respondent No. 2 High Tension Power Construction Company, which is carrying out the work of laying 400 KV line and is planning on behalf of respondent No. 1 to erect towers and to lay overhead lines on the lands belonging to the petitioners and earth work for towers is about to be started. No response was made to the petitioners' letter by the Respondents who seem bent upon to erect towers in the petitioners' fields. In the circumstances, the petitioners have prayed for issuance of an appropriate writ restraining the Respondents from laying overhead transmission lines and erecting towers therefore on the petitioners' lands in question.

( 4 ) THE respondents in their return have denied all the adverse allegations contained in the petition. As is ascertainable from the Return, respondent No. 1 NTPC is a Generating Company formed under S. 15-A of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the 'act' ). The respondent No. 1 is implementing the sanctioned scheme, prepared and sanctioned, under S. 28 of the Act. The Government of India, Ministry of Energy, Department of Power have by their letter dt. 17-6-1982 (Annexure-R-I) approved the capital investment in the scheme for setting up of the first phase (1260 MW) of the Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station in Madhya Pradesh along with associated transmission lines estimated to cost Rs. 911. 57 Crores and 198. 85 Crores respectively. The transmission line under the Scheme is from Vindhyachal to Baroda (Asoj) via Indore. The transmission line has been divided into several stages the last stage being from Indore to Baroda (Asoj ). The Central Electricity Authority (Department of Power, Government of India) (For short, 'the Authority') by their letter dt. 4-10-1985 (Ann