R K JOSHI Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Loka Shikshana Trust (hereinafter referred to as 'the trust') is a public trust registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950. It has its registered Office at Hubli. It publishes one prominent Kannada Daily News paper called "Samyukta Karnataka" from Hubli and Bangalore. It also publishes some other periodicals. The Board of Trustees have sold the right of publication of the said daily along with machineries to a private firm. Some persons interested in the trust complaining mismanagement of the affairs of the trust have challenged the validity of that alienation in a suit filed in the District Court, Dharwar. They have also sought a scheme for proper administration of the trust by removing the existing trustees. In that suit, the Court appointed one receiver to manage the publication of the daily news paper and another to collect rents from the immovable properties of the trust. When the suit was thus pending with the receivers managing the properties the State Government has intervened to take over the management of the trust with those properties alienated. For that purpose, on August 31, 1981 the Governor promulgated an Ordinance called. "The Loka Shikshana Trust (Taking over of Management) Ordinance, 1981 (Karnataka Ordinance 16 of 1981). On March 10. 1982, that Ordinance was replaced by an Act called "The Loka Shikshana Trust (Taking over of Management) Act. 1982" (called shortly as 'the Act'). The petitioners in these writ petitions plead passionately for striking down the Act as unconstitutional.

(2.) The petitioners in W.P. No 18785 of 1981 claim to be the persons interested in the management of the trust. The petitioner in W.P.No. 18868 of 1981 is the trust itself,. represented by Sri A.R. Diwakar who claims to be the sole trustee. The petitioner in W.P.No. 10508 of 1982 is a lessee who has taken over a vacant plot belonging to the trust under a term lease and who has built therein a multistoried building. -The petitioners in W.P.Nos. 6209 to 6217 of 1982 are the tenants occupying some of the premises belonging to the trust.

(3.) The constitutional validity of the Act is the common writ petitions and they are, therefore being disposed of by this common judgment.