PAUL D SILVA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners are the joint-owners of land bearing Sy. No. 1/3 of Thavoor Village, to an extent measuring 22 acres and 45 cents. The said land according to the claim made by the petitioners is a cardamom estate.

(2.) ). In this petition, the petitioners have prayed for a declaration that the deemed permission secured by the vendors of the land referred to above pursuant to the application filed by the vendors of the petitioners on 9th January, 1981 in Form No. 1 under Rule 4 (1) of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Rules enures to the benefit of the petitioner and for a further direction to the respondents not to obstruct the felling of the trees from the said lands, and to issue necessary "mafi" (transport) pass to enable the petitioners to transport the timber that they might fell from the land in question. They have also prayed for quashing of the endorsement dated 10th March, 1995, a copy of which has been produced as Annexure G passed by the 2nd respondent during the pendency of the petition wherein the prayer of the petitioners seeking permission to cut the trees from the lands in question came to be rejected.

(3.) A few facts which are not in dispute and which are relevant for the disposal of this petition may be set out as hereunder :the petitioners purchased the land in question by means of registered sale deed dated 18th Feb. 1982 from its original owners 1) Sri A. Palianappan, 2) Smt. Sulochana and 3) Smt. M. Valliamma. The original owners had filed an application on 29th Jan. 1981 in Form No. 1 seeking permission to cut the trees standing on the lands referred to above as provided under Section 8 of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' ). The said application remained undisposed of for a period of one year from the date of the receipt of the application by the 2nd respondent; and therefore, it is the case of the petitioners that the permission sought by the vendors of the petitioners to cut the trees set out in Schedule to this petition is deemed to have been granted as provided under Clause (ii) of sub-section (4) of Section 8 of the Act.