GREGORY PATRAO Vs. MANGALORE REFINERY AND PETROCHEMICALS LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in First Appeal No. 259 of 2021 and other allied first appeals, by which the High Court has set aside the judgment and award passed by the learned Reference Court and has remanded the matter to the Reference Court to decide the references afresh after affording an opportunity to all the parties including respondent No. 1 herein - M/s. Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd., Mangalore (MRPL), the original claimants / original landowners have preferred the present appeals.

(2.) The lands belonging to the original claimants/original landowners/appellants herein were acquired under Sec. 28(4) of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as KIAD Act, 1966) under three different notifications. The lands were sought to be acquired for the development of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (hereinafter referred to as KIADB) for establishment of industrial areas. The Land Acquisition Officer after affording an opportunity of hearing to the owners of the land passed an award on 6/10/2009. At the instance of the landowners, the references were made to the Reference Court. The Reference Court vide judgment dtd. 29/7/2020 enhanced the amount of compensation.

(3.) Shri Shailesh Madiyal, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants - original claimants has vehemently contended that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the High Court has erred in quashing and setting aside the judgment and award/order passed by the Reference Court in the appeals preferred by MRPL by holding that MRPL can be said to be a person interested and therefore, MRPL ought to have been heard by the Reference Court before enhancing the amount of compensation.