H M MANJAPPA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the present days when land is sold at a premium and more so lands which were formerly agricultural lands, even gomal land which have how become part of an urbanized agglomeration, in any place or town, while in Bangalore city. Mysore city or as in the instant case in Davangere town, various devices are adopted to gobble up lands ultimately, particularly by persons who claim themselves to be land developers and builders and one popular method of taking land out of the character of government land is by getting the land in the first instance allotted to an institution on the premise that the institution intends to carry on some educational activities, but the land is later conveniently sold away at a far better price than what was initially spent for allotment etc., on one pretext or the other, and only persons who can buy such lands by paying the market price or near about are persons who are in the business of construction, who are both capable or investing funds and manipulating public authorities for getting permission even for impossible things, and in this unhealthy race for gaining, at the cost of all, sufferers are only persons who with some hope and aspirations might be in occupation and cultivation of the land etc. Developments in this regard had been noticed in the order passed by this Court on 25-07-2011 and are as under:

(2.) In the present ease, a land which had been granted in favour of an educational institution - fourth Respondent institution - way back in the year 1994 as per grant order dated 10-5-1994, though was never put to the use for which it was granted, is said to have been sold away in the year 2008 at a considerable profit in favour of Respondents 5 to 8 and this had caused considerable heartburn amongst the villagers, who quite naturally would have felt aggrieved, as the land which was originally in the nature of gomal land and was diverted for construction of a school in the village, instead is sold away by the grantee to some private developers, and can only result in further deterioration and degradation of surrounding areas with haphazard growth, but the laudable purpose of providing education to the village children is lost.

(3.) After indulging in all such activities, the state government wants to wash off its hands by now claiming that the properly is now a private property of Respondents 5 to 8 and therefore it has nothing to do with it.