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MANIK KARANJAWALAV. K. SIDHARTHAN

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CASE NO.:

Appeal (civil) 8328 of 2001

PETITIONER:

M/s Ahuja Industries Ltd.

RESPONDENT:

State of Karnataka & Ors.

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/04/2003

BENCH:

Doraiswamy Raju & Ashok Bhan

JUDGMENT:

J U D G M E N T

BHAN, J.

The instant appeal seeks to assail the judgment and order dated 1st

February, 2001 passed by the Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court

in Writ Appeal No. 570 of 2001, (hereinafter referred to as ’the impugned

order") upholding the order of the Single Judge in dismissing the writ

petition filed by the appellant challenging the acquisition proceedings

initiated under the The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966

(hereinafter referred to as "the Act") including Survey No. 6 (with which the

appellant is concerned) measuring 1 acre 30 guntas. The appellant is

aggrieved not only with the acquisition proceedings but also with the manner

in which the acquisition proceedings have been commenced and proceeded

with under the Act. According to him the mandatory requirements for the

declaration of the industrial area as well as issuance of a show cause notice

to the appellant to file objections have not been complied with.

Before adverting to the points raised in this appeal it would be

necessary to enumerate the basic facts, which are as under:

On 10th February, 1993 appellant purchased land ad-measuring 1 acre

30 guntas bearing Survey No.6 by registered sale deed located at Krishna

Sagar village, Attibele Hobli, Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Urban District from

Khujam and Rahmath Shariff. According to the appellant he was put in

possession of the said land from the date of sale. However, his name was

not shown in the revenue record as the land had not been mutated in his

name in the record. The name of one Jacob who had sold the land to the

Vendor of the appellant is shown in the revenue record.

The said land and surrounding lands were acquired for the purpose of

industrial development under preliminary notification dated 3rd October,

1997 (Gazetted on 30th October, 1997) issued under Section 28 (1) of the

Act and final declaration dated 21st April, 1998 (Gazetted on 23rd April,

1998) issued under Section 28 (4) of the Act.

Appellant being aggrieved by the acquisition proceedings filed the

writ petition in the High Court which was dismissed by the Single Judge by

his order dated 21st November, 2000. The writ appeal against the said order

has been dismissed by the impugned order.

Section 1 of the Act gives the short title, extent and commencement of

the provisions of the Act. Sub-Section (3) of Section 1 stipulates that the

Act shall come into force at once, except Chapter VII, which shall come into

force in such areas and from such date as the State Government may by

notification specify in that behalf. Section 27 of Chapter VII literally

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reproduces the said provisions and states that the provisions of the said

Chapter shall apply to such areas and from such dates as may be notified by

the State Government under sub-section (3) of Section 1. Section 3 relates

to declaration of industrial areas and empowers the State Government to

declare any area in the State to be an industrial area for purposes of the Act.

Section 28 (1) empowers the State Government to give notice of its intention

to acquire such land as may in its opinion be required for the purposes of

development by the Board or for any other purpose in furtherance of the

objects of the Act. Section 28 (2) requires on publication of a notification in

subsection (1), that the State Government shall serve notice upon the owner

or where the owner is not the occupier, on the occupier of the land and on all

such persons known or believed to be interested therein to show cause,

within thirty days from the date of service of the notice, why the land should

not be acquired. Sub-clause (3) prov