A.P. MOHAMMED NOOHO Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petition is for quashing the proceedings taken by the State to acquire 1.71 acres of land in S. Nos. 8973 and 8974 of Colachel Pakuthy belonging to the petitioner. It is also for an order to stop all further proceedings in the matter and for the necessary orders, directions and writs in the nature of mandamus, prohibition and certiorari being issued to the counter petitioners for securing the rights of the petitioner over the property. There are 3 counter petitioners in the case, the first of whom is the State of Travancore - Cochin, the second is the Tahsildar of Kalkulam Taluk and the third the South Travancore Latin Catholic Arasar Cooperative Society No. 2577 of Colachel represented by its President Shri. P.M. Simon.

(2.) The petitioners case was stated before us as follows: He is the owner of the land in question which is situated in the sea port area of Colachel. It was purchased by him in the year 1117 M.E. (1942 A.D.) for a consideration amounting to Rs. 34,000/- for purpose of his export business and stevedoring work at the port. He had constructed the necessary go-downs in the said property. The extent of the premises available was, however, hardly sufficient for the shipping and export business carried on by the petitioner. This plot was within a few yards of the flag-staff of the Colachel port and was the busiest part of the port area. A portion of this plot of land was in the possession of the parish priest of the Latin Catholic Church at Colachel under a mortgage of the year 1101 M.E. (1926 A.D.) When the petitioner asked for the surrender of the property on receipt of the mortgage money, the said priest started trouble by introducing into the property certain of the parishioners who were fishermen who came and squatted on the land. The priest also moved the Government that the said land might be compulsorily acquired for the purpose of providing house sites for the fishermen of the locality. The petition filed by the priest was dismissed by the Government on 30th March 1943. The petitioner then filed O.S. No. 141 of 1119 in the District Court, Nagercoil, for redemption of the said mortgage. In spite of a hot contest by the priest, a decree for redemption was passed by the District Court. But the petitioner was unable to get the fruits of that litigation and secure possession of the property because of the obstruction caused by the fishermen who were brought into the property by the priest. Another suit for eviction of the fishermen (O.S. No. 163 of 1122) had therefore to be brought by the petitioner and that suit is now pending in the above District Court.

(3.) The said priest, having got foiled in his attempt to persuade Government to acquire the property, set up the third counter petitioner the South Travancore Latin Catholic Arasar Cooperative Society which had been started under the aegis of the local Latin Catholic Church, to move Government for compulsory acquisition of the said land for providing house sites for the Catholic fishermen of Colachel. This was done by the priest for the purpose of defeating the execution of the mortgage decree for redemption obtained by the petitioner. The Cooperative Society itself was a creature of the Latin Church there, and the president of the society was a tool in the hands of the priest who was the defendant in the redemption suit. The petitioner came to know that the above said persons were moving Government for the acquisition of the said land and that an order was passed on the 12th January 1951 that the land under reference might be acquired. He therefore preferred a petition before the Government on 4th May 1951 for stopping the acquisition proceedings. But Government by its order L. Dis. 2254/51 dated 17th October 1951 allowed the petitioner twenty cents out of the land in dispute and directed the acquisition in respect of the remaining portion of the land. On representation made by the petitioner, the then Chief Minister Shri. T.K. Narayana Pillai had conducted a local inspection of the site on 17th June 1951 accompanied by the Government Secretary concerned who was in charge of this subject in the Secretariat. The notes made by the Minister and the Secretary on inspection are stated to be not now among the records of this case. The petitioners objections were subsequently heard by the Minister Shri. A.J. John on the 3rd August 1951. Shri. A.J. John relinquished office as Minister without passing any orders and his successor in-office Shri. L.M. Piley, on 17th October 1951, without any further hearing of the petitioner or his Advocate, passed the order now complained against for compulsory acquisition. The petitioner thereupon filed another application before Government on 31st October 1951 praying for a reconsideration of the prior order of Government. But that was not allowed. It is the petitioners case that the port of Colachel offered a deep anchorage for ships not far from the shore and it was more advantageously situated than the other ports at Alleppey and Trivandrum in the State, so that there was a great possibility for the expansion of that port. Necessarily therefore, all available lands in the port area at Colachel were to be preserved for the purpose of landing and storing goods for export as well as import. As a matter of public policy, the State ought not to interfere with the progress of such export and import trade by instituting acquisition proceedings in respect of the land used for it in the port area, with the ostensible purpose of providing house sites for a few fishermen.