DEVAMMA Vs. SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these civil petitions are filed by the appellants in various miscellaneous first appeals for prosecuting the miscellaneous first appeals under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, the act), as indigent persons pleading that the petitioners are unable to pay court-fee required to be paid on the memorandum of such miscellaneous appeals.

(2.) PETITIONERS are all persons whose lands had come to be acquired by the State for construction of a reservoir known as Tonnur tank, as part of the Hemavathi Left Bank Canal project, as a sequel to the conclusion of hernavathi dam across the river Hernavathi.

(3.) IN respect of such lands acquired from the petitioners, while the land acquisition officer had made awards, determining the quantum of compensation, the land owners being dissatisfied with the compensation as awarded by the land acquisition officer, had sought for reference to the civil Court in terms of Section 18 of the Act and had met with partial success. The petitioners feeling aggrieved that they have not been adequately compensated on their lands acquired, have evinced their interest to prosecute the matter by filing appeals before this Court under Section 54 of the Act, but are pleading their inability to pay commensurate court-fee on the memorandum of such appeals on the premise that they cannot afford to pay court-fee, as they do not have means to pay court-fee etc.