SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER BANGALORE B M NARAYANASWAMI B M RAMASWAMY Vs. B M KRISHNAMURTHY:SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER:SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the three cases before us arise out of land acquisition proceedings. The result of Special Leave Petition 3450 of 1974 is entirely dependent on the result of Civil 1127 of 1974 while the result of Civil 992 of 1971 is partly dependent on the result of Civil 1127 of 1974. We therefore, consider it desirable to deal with Civil 1127 of 1974 first

(2.) Pursuant to a notification dated 2/05/1962 under S. 4 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act, lands in the village of Byappanahalli were acquired for the purpose of construction of a marshalling yard for the Railway. Out of the total extent of land so acquired except a parcel of 4 acres and 20 guntas and another parcel of I acre and 13 guntas which are respectively the subject matter of Civil 1127 of 1974 and Special Leave Petition 3450 of 1974, the rest of the lands were agricultural lands. These two parcels of land had been permitted by the appropriate authorities to be converted for non-agricultural use. The Land Acquisition Officer awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 5,000. 00 an acre in respect of dry lands, Rs. 10,000. 00 an acre in respect of wet and garden lands and Rs. 750. 00 an acre in respect of Kharab lands. References were made to the civil court under S. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. The Civil Judge awarded compensation at the rate of Rs. 6. 00 per square yard in respect of unconverted agricultural land. He valued the land which had been permitted to be converted for use as non-agricultural land at the rate of Rs. 18. 00 per square yard. The State of Karnataka preferred appeals to the High court of Karnataka and by their judgment dated 18/10/1973 a division bench consisting of Govinda Bhat, C. J. and Srinivasa lyengar, J. after noticing the indifferent attitude displayed by the Land Acquisition Officer at the trial of the references and the manner in which the cases were conducted by the government Pleader on behalf of the government, examined thequestion in great detail and reduced the compensation to Rs. 15,000. 00 per acre in the case of agricultural lands and Rs. 22,000. 00 per acre in the case of lands whose use for non-agricultural purposes was sanctioned. In a few of the cases the fine required to be paid for converting agricultural land for non-agricultural use had not been paid by the owners of the land and in such cases the compensation stood reduced by sum of Rs. 3,000. 00 per acre (the amount of fine required to be paid by the owners).

(3.) The owners of the lands whose use for non-agricultural purpose had been permitted by the authorities have filed the present Civil 1127 of 1974 and Special Leave Petition 3450 of 1974.