BHARAT BHUSHAN & ANR Vs. STATE & ORS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Although prayer in the instant Letters Patent Appeal is for the issuance of directions prohibiting the respondents from proceeding with the work of installing 400 KV High Transmission Tower at village Danga to Panchayat Sumb Tehsil Phalain-Mandal, District Jammu during the pendency of OWP No.556/2016 as also to strike down Section 56(d) of the Jammu and Kashmir Specific Relief Act on account of the same being violative of the fundamental right of the appellants, inasmuch as, it denies the appellants the right to approach the Civil Court for the relief sought in the writ petition against a Government Department, yet at the time of arguments, counsel for the appellants restricted claim on behalf of the appellants qua the first prayer by stating that although a miscellaneous petition had been filed along with OWP No.556/2016 for issuance of interim directions to the respondents to desist from proceeding with installation work at site in question till decision by the High Court on the prayer of the appellants to shift the location for the installation of the Tower to any other place, yet the learned writ Court had disposed of the miscellaneous petition by observing that the respondents in the process of installation of Tower would abide by the rules of Land Acquisition without taking into account that the representation of the appellants for shifting of the location of the Tower to be installed in front of the land of the petitioners to any other land, was pending and in the circumstances, the order of the learned writ Court on the miscellaneous petition practically amounted to dismissal of the miscellaneous petition and consequently, the writ petition and that in the circumstances, respondents be restrained from installing 400 KV High Transmission Tower without deciding the appellants representation.

(2.) Brief facts of the case necessary for the adjudication of the instant Letters Patent Appeal are that the appellants filed OWP No.556/2016 seeking directions to the respondents not to install High Voltage Transmission Line on the land of the appellants without legally acquiring the land and payment of appropriate compensation in terms of the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act and the rules and further for commanding the respondents, if at all, they wanted to acquire the land to install any Tower in the land of the appellants, to install the same in the rear side of the land of the appellants by sparing the front portion of 4 Kanals of appellants land which abutted the road on account of the same being commercial land with very high potential value on account of its being surrounded by houses and shops.

(3.) Prayer was also made in the writ petition for commanding the respondents to shift the place of the proposed Tower to any other land other than that of the appellants etc. Along with the writ petition, miscellaneous petition was filed for directing the respondents to desist from further proceeding with the work of installation of the 400 KVA High Transmission Tower till acquisition of the land to the satisfaction of the appellants and till such time that decision was taken by the Writ Court regarding shifting of the 400 KVA High Transmission Tower.