J U D G M E N T

SANJAY KUMAR, J

1. Leave granted.

2. By judgment dated 05.09.2019, a Division Bench of the High Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by babita pandey Date: 2024.09.24

14:22:29 ICST ourt of Karnataka, Bengaluru, allowed Writ Appeal No. 17584 of 2011 and Reason:

reversed the order dated 24.05.2010 passed by a learned Judge dismissing Writ Petition No. 16553 of 2006. The Division Bench directed HMT Ltd., respondent No. 4 in the writ appeal, to vacate and handover the identified land, admeasuring Ac. 4-21½ Guntas in Survey Nos. 21 and 22 of Jarakabande Kaval Village, Bangalore North Taluk, to the appellants/writ petitioners or, in the alternative, the Union of India and officials of its Defence department, along with HMT Ltd., respondent Nos. 1 to 4 in the writ appeal, were held jointly and severally liable to pay the current guidance value of the land, as fixed by the State Government for non-agricultural land in square feet. In addition thereto, they were also held liable to pay rental compensation, calculated from 02.03.1973 till the date of payment along with simple interest thereon @ 6% per annum from the date the writ petition was filed. The Division Bench ordered that in the event its directions were not complied with, respondent Nos. 1 to 4 in the appeal would be jointly and severally liable to pay rental compensation from 02.03.1973 with simple interest thereon @ 6% per annum till the land was redelivered to the appellants/writ petitioners. The Division Bench concluded by stating that this would be an equitable remedy given the facts and circumstances of the case. Thereafter, by order dated 13.09.2019, passed upon an application filed by the appellants/writ petitioners, the Division Bench corrected certain errors in its judgment dated 05.09.2019.

3. These two orders are subjected to challenge by HMT Ltd., on the one hand, and by the Union of India and its officials in its Defence department, on the other. By interim order dated 10.01.2020 passed in the SLPs filed by HMT Ltd., this Court stayed the operation of the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court. An order to the same effect was passed on 29.10.2020 in the first SLP filed by the Union of India and its officials in the Defence department.

4. The prayer of the respondents herein, viz., the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 16553 of 2006, was to direct the respondents therein to pay rental compensation from 1973 till date and to continue to pay the same till the unacquired portion of their land was delivered to them; to direct delivery of the unacquired portion of their land, being an extent of Ac. 2-11 Guntas in Survey No. 21 and Ac. 2-26 Guntas in Survey No. 22 of Jarakabande Kaval Village, Yelahanka Hobli, Bangalore North Taluk. By the order dated 24.05.2010, a learned Judge of the Karnataka High Court noted that the writ petition was filed forty-six years after the acquisition and held that the disputed questions of fact that were raised could not be gone into in a writ petition after that length of time. The learned Judge accordingly held that no interference was called for and dismissed the writ petition on the ground of delay and laches. Aggrieved by this order, the unsuccessful writ petitioners filed Writ Appeal No. 17584 of 2011, resulting in the impugned judgment and order in their favour which, in turn, led to filing of the present appeals.

5. The case of the respondents/writ petitioners, as set out in W.P No. 16553 of 2006, was as follows: -

They were the heirs and successors-in-interest of Putta Narasamma, w/o of late Papaiah Naidu. Putta Narasamma was the owner and possessor of Ac. 4-01 Guntas in Survey No. 21 and Ac. 6-34 Guntas in Survey No. 22 of Jarakabande Kaval, Yelahanka Hobli, Bangalore North Taluk. This land was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence under the provisions of the Requisition and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 (for brevity, ‘the Act of 1952’), and Putta Narasamma was paid crop compensation of