BASAPPA Vs. ASST COMMR MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By consent of the learned counsel appearing on either side, the writ petitions are taken up for final hearing.

(2.) In this combined writ petition, the two petitioners, who will be hereinafter referred to as the 1st. and the 2nd petitioners respectively, have challenged the acquisition) proceedings initiated by the respondents as per the preliminary Notification Annexure- A issued under sub-section (1) of S. 3 of the Karnataka Acquisition of Land for Grant of House Sites Act, 1972 (for short the 'Act') notifying a proposal to acquire 14 items of land of which serial number 1 belongs to the 1st petitioner and serial number 14 belongs to the 2nd petitioner. The Preliminary Notification was followed by the issue of a final notification as required under sub-section, (4) of S. 3 of the Act as per Annexure-E. The petitioners have challenged the validity of the final Notification Annexure- E and sought for its being quashed.

(3.) The records of the proceedings would show tkat the acquisition proceedings proceeded on the basis that the petitioners herein did not file any objections against the proposed acquisition of their lands even though they were served with the notice as required under sub-section (2) of S. 3. From the records I see a copy of the notice in Form-B dated 27-1-1979 issued from the office of the Block Development Officer, Mysore, on the reverse of it a number of signatures of various persons including a few L, T. Ms. by way of acknowledgement of the receipt of the notice in question,. As regards the 1st petitioner Basappa, the notice appears to have been served upon his wife by obtaining her thumb impression. As regards the second petitioner, the notice appears to have been received by one Marappa who had acknowledged the receipt of the notice by affixing his L.T.M. It is not known who that Marappa is. Besides, the contents of the notice is in English. There is nothing to indicate in the copy of the notice that the, persons who had acknowledged the receipt of the notice were apprised of the contents of the notice.