- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) Appellants herein are owners of lands appurtenant to Khasra Nos. 3829, 3830 and 3831. They acquired the said lands in 1993 and allegedly raised certain construction thereupon. A notification under Section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, 'the Act') was issued on 20.12.1996 for acquisition of the said lands. A suit was filed by the appellants herein in the Court of the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Panipat, questioning the validity of the said notification, inter alia, on the premise that the said proceeding was illegal and in any event the constructions raised by them cannot be demolished in view of a policy decision taken by the State. On an application for grant of injunction filed by the appellants, an order of interim injunction was passed on 30.08.1997 in the following terms : "For written statement, no reply to injunction application and arguments on the same, to come up on 23.9.1997. In the meantime, the defendants are restrained from demolishing the construction and initiating further action on the memo in dispute as according to the Jamabandi disputed property is in the shape of Gair Mumkin Plots and it is arguable point as to whether the provisions of Punjab Scheduled Roads Act are applicable to the Gair Mumkin plots or not."
(3.) Indisputably, the said interim order was extended from time to time, as would be noticed hereinafter. By an order dated 24.09.1997 while adjourning the suit to 29.11.1997, the order of stay dated 30.08.1997 was extended. On 29.11.1997, the following order was passed : "The case is adjourned to 09.01.1998 for filing of written statement and reply to the injunction application. Till then stay order dated 30.8.98 is extended." [Emphasis supplied];