TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (4) TMI 1506
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.... be decided only on appreciation of evidence led in to the said effect". The High Court was further of the view that the Special Court constituted under the provisions of A.P. Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 (for short "the Act") did not commit any error in taking cognizance of the case being Land Grabbing Case No.44/2000. 3. Since the present appeals, by special leave, have been filed assailing the same common judgment, they were heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment. For the sake of convenience, Civil Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.26925 of 2010 is taken as the main appeal. It is imperative to record brief facts for the disposal of this case, which are as follows: 3.1. One V.R.K. Shastry had purchased the land to an extent of 12 acres 9 guntas out of 16 acres 9 guntas of land in Survey No.129/68 Paiki from one Md. Moulana vide agreement dated 29.12.1963. A suit for specific performance of the said agreement having been dismissed, V.R.K. Shastry filed an appeal before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh which was numbered as CCCA No.14 of 1972. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh while allowing CCCA No.14 of 1972 vide judgment....
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.... common judgment had upheld that the disputed property is part of land in Survey No.129/68 and the same belonged to the appellant society. It is pertinent to mention here that LGC No.15/1996 was dismissed as withdrawn. 3.4 One K. Balram and few others filed another Land Grabbing Case No.44 of 2000 before the Special Court established under the Act in respect of Land in Survey No.129/52, RS No.327, claiming that he and other members of the Hindu Joint Family, he as the manager, had purchased the disputed property under the registered Sale Deed dated 25.03.1967 from one of the legal representatives of Md. Moulana, namely, Abdul Rub. The above-noted purchaser/ assignee of the land, namely, V. Narsimha Reddy was impleaded in the said case and the applications filed by the said V. Narsimha Reddy and the appellant herein, for quashing of LGC No.44/2000 on the ground of maintainability, were dismissed vide order dated 30.04.2010. 3.5 Being aggrieved the appellant herein and the above named V. Narsimha Reddy filed Writ Petition Nos.11951/2010 and 11869/2010, respectively, before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh for quashing of LGC No.44/2000. The High Court vide impugned common judgmen....
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....ll settled that the principle of res judicata is applied for the purpose of achieving finality in litigation as laid down by this Court in the case of Sri Bhavanarayanaswamivari Temple Vs. Vadapalli Venkata Bhavanarayana Charyulu, (1970) 1 SCC 673, relevant paragraph of which is quoted below: "8. ... It was observed that the doctrine of res judicata is not confined to a decision in a suit but it applies to decisions in other proceedings as well. But how far a decision which is rendered in other proceedings will bind the parties depends upon other considerations one of which is whether that decision determines substantial rights of parties and the other is whether the parties are given adequate opportunities to establish the rights pleaded by them. The doctrine of res judicata is not confined to the limits prescribed in Section 11, Civil Procedure Code. The underlying principle of that doctrine is that there should be finality in litigation and that a person should not be vexed twice over in respect of the same matter.". (emphasis supplied) 8. To constitute a matter res judicata, as observed by this Court in Syed Mohd. Salie Labbai Vs. Mohd. Hanifa, AIR 1976 SC 1569 = (1976) 4 S....
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....ned counsel for the respondents that the principle of res judicata cannot be applied to this particular case because respondent society is bona fide purchaser of the scheduled property and as such both the Special Court and the High Court were wrong in coming to a conclusion that the respondent society was to be non-suited on the ground of res judicata based on the judgment passed in CCCA No.14 of 1972. 13. Learned counsel for respondents who are legal representatives of the deceased Md. Moulana, submitted that the Special Court had requisite jurisdiction to go into the questions of title and identity. He relied upon the judgment of this Court in the case of Mandal Revenue Officer Vs. Goundla Venkaiah & Anr., (2010) 2 SCC 461, para 20, wherein it was held that the Land Grabbing Act is a self-contained Code which deals with various facets of Land Grabbing and provides for a comprehensive machinery for determination of various issues relating to land grabbing, including the claim of the alleged land grabber that he has a right to occupy the land or that he has acquired title by adverse possession. 14. It was further submitted by the learned counsel that the findings in OS No.29/196....
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....als which are not admissible, then the High Court will be fully justified in interfering with the findings of the inferior Tribunal." 17. Before arriving at the conclusion, we would like to emphasize on the ratio of another judgment of this Court in the case of Ramji Gupta & Anr. Vs. Gopi Krishan Agrawal (dead) & Ors., (2013) 9 SCC 438, para 15, which reads as follows: "In order to operate as res judicata, the finding must be such that it disposes of a matter that is directly and substantially in issue in the former suit, and that the said issue must have been heard and finally decided by the court trying such suit. A matter which is collaterally or incidentally in issue for the purpose of deciding a matter which is directly in issue in the case, cannot be made the basis for a plea of res judicata." 18. We have perused the written notes on arguments of the learned counsels for both the parties and after a punctilious scrutiny of complete record, we are of the considered opinion that it may be true that the Court at initial stage may not enter into the merit of the matter. Its opinion in the nature of things would be a prima facie one. But the Court must also consider that the a....