TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2007 (4) TMI 787
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....ion) Act, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') in Land Grabbing Case (L.G.C.) No. 137 of 1989 on September 4, 1995. 2. The litigation has a chequered history and to understand the controversy raised by the parties in the present group of appeals, it is necessary to bear in mind the facts and circumstances under which this Court is called upon to resolve the controversy. One Farhatulla, father of original petitioner Nos. 1 to 3 and husband of petitioner No. 4 before the Special Court, was the owner of land bearing Survey Nos. 45-48, admeasuring 45 acres, of Yousufguda village in the limits of Golkonda Mandal, Hyderabad in the State of Andhra Pradesh. It appears that the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board wanted the land for a public purpose i.e., for the construction of dwelling units for its employees ('Vengal Rao Nagar Housing Board Colony'). A requisition was, therefore, made for acquisition of land under Section 22A of the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Housing Board Act') for 'Housing Scheme'. A notification was issued on August 5, 1965 and was published in Government Gazette on August 26, 1965. Special....
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....ing MCH to sanction layout without insisting for NOC from the Housing Board and declaring that land acquisition proceedings in respect of the said land had lapsed. The High Court allowed the petition and granted the relief by judgment and order dated December 8, 1988. It was held by the High Court that the possession could not be taken by the Housing Board of two acres of land nor the amount was paid to the owners and the proceedings lapsed. In view of the findings recorded by the High Court in the Writ Petition, the petitioners-land-owners filed Land Grabbing Case (L.G.C.) No. 137 of 1989 in the Special Court under the Act and prayed for eviction of unauthorized encroachers in two acres of land owned by late Farhatulla, father of petitioner Nos. 1 to 3 and husband of petitioner No. 4. A counter was filed by respondent Nos.1 to 3, inter alia, contending that they and their forefathers had been in possession of the land said to have been encroached by them and they were cultivating it since time immemorial. They and their predecessors were in actual occupation of land and their possession was never objected by the petitioners. The Land Acquisition Officer who passed the Award also h....
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.... of father of respondent No. 4. Thus, he was the owner and possessor of land of Survey No. 45 admeasuring five acres and cannot be treated as 'land grabber'. He had been in occupation of the land being claimed by him since the time of his father, he is entitled to patta rights under Rule 2 of the Rules regarding grant of pattadar rights in Khalsa village. Respondent Nos. 5 and 6 filed a common counter. It was their case that land in Yousufguda village was included in the municipal limits of MCH long back. It is now fully developed urban area used for building purposes. According to them, if the 'petition schedule land' belonged to late Farhatulla as was claimed by the petitioners, it should have been shown in their declaration under Section 6 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. But it was not included. According to these respondents, they purchased 1760 sq. yards from the 'petition schedule land' along with structures thereon which was surrounded by a compound wall. After obtaining necessary permission from MCH, they had made construction on the property. In the written submissions filed before this Court, they have stated that they have im....
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....espondent No. 8 raised contentions that his forefathers had been in possession of the land and were cultivating it. Respondent No. 12 in his reply stated that he had purchased 577 square yards of land with a house situated in Bharat Nagar Colony which was a portion of 'petition schedule land' under a registered sale deed dated December 14, 1984 from respondent No. 8 and he could not be described as 'land grabber'. Respondent Nos. 14 and 15, in their common counter, contended that they had purchased 279 square yards of land which was the portion of 'petition schedule land' under a registered sale deed dated April 11, 1986 from one Kurupaiah who was the owner of the land. It was further stated that when Koteswara Rao tried to interfere with their possession, they filed Original Suit No. 1721 of 1986 in the Court of IXth Assistant Judge, City Civil Court, Hyderabad and obtained interim injunction. Respondent No. 16 in his counter contended that he had purchased 350 square yards of the 'petition schedule land' under a registered sale deed dated March 4, 1985 from one Chandraiah who had occupancy rights over the said land. He also contended that he had pe....
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..... The possession could not be given to the Board by the land-owner since there were huts thereon. The amount in respect of two acres of land, therefore, was ordered to be deposited. In the order of the High Court dated December 8, 1988 in Writ Petition No. 4194 of 1988, it was held that Award to the extent of two acres of land was illegal and respondent No. 22 Board had not acquired any right over the said land. According to Housing Board, it had preferred a Writ Appeal against the said order and hence it could not be said that the order of the High Court had become final. In the duly sanctioned layout by the Director of Town Planning, it was clearly demarcated that two acres of land was covered by huts. As per the order passed in Writ Petition No. 1803 of 1991 filed against Housing Board by Indira Nagar Hut Dwellers Association, Yousufguda, the High Court directed the Association to approach a Civil Court for appropriate relief. According to the Board, it had erected a fencing, constructed a rest room and also displayed a board that the land so fenced belonged to the Board. The area within the fencing was in occupation of the Board under the Award dated December 31, 1971. Neither ....
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.... For want of evidence regarding the identity of the site alleged to have been grabbed by other respondents other than R-22, we find that they cannot be treated as land grabbers. It is not the contention of the petitioner that R-22 is a land grabber. Hence, we find that none of the Respondents in the LGC are land grabbers. As regards title of the site in the Petition-Schedule land covered by Ex. B-5, B-8, B-9, B-40 and B-41 Sale Deed, the Petitioners and the vendees under the said Sale Deeds are at liberty to establish their title in the result Civil Courts. 7. Being aggrieved by the judgment of the Special Court, writ petitions were filed in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Whereas A.P. Housing Board had grievance against the direction to hand over possession of two acres of land to the petitioners, original petitioners were aggrieved by the order of the Court in not allowing their petition in its entirety. Respondent No. 4 as also respondent Nos. 34 to 36 were also not satisfied with the order passed by the Special Court and they also approached the High Court. The High Court, by a common judgment dated March 29, 2000 dismissed all the petitions. The aggrieved appellants have ch....
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....ourt. Civil Appeal No. 3989 of 2003 was filed by the respondent No. 4 in Land Grabbing Case. According to him, the Special Court as well as the High Court were right in upholding his contention that he was in adverse possession of the land and had become owner thereof. Both the Courts, however, were wrong in recording a finding that he had perfected his title only in respect of 770.55 square yards of land. According to him, he had perfected his title for five acres of land and his prayer deserves to be granted by this Court. 9. Civil Appeal No. 3943 of 2002 was filed by original petitioners-landowners. Their case is that they were the owners of the suit property and neither the Housing Board nor other respondents had any right, title or interest in the land. It was submitted that the Special Court committed an error of law in holding that some of the respondents including respondent No. 4 had perfected their title by way of adverse possession. Such a finding could not have been recorded by Special Court established under the Act. It was also submitted that both the Courts were right in holding that out of forty-five acres of land said to have been acquired by the A.P. Housing Boar....
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....a religious or charitable institution or endowment, including a wakf or any other private person. The land grabbers are forming bogus cooperative housing societies or setting up fictitious claims and including in large scale and unprecedented and fraudulent sales of land through unscrupulous real estate dealers or otherwise in favour of certain section of people, resulting in large scale accumulation of the unaccounted wealth. As public order is also adversely affected thereby now and then by such unlawful activities of land grabbers in the State, particularly in respect of urban and urbanisable land, it was felt necessary to arrest and curb such unlawful activities immediately by enacting a special law in that regard. It has been further stated: Whereas there are organized attempts on the part of certain lawless persons operating individually and in groups, to grab, either by force or by deceit or otherwise, lands (whether belonging to the Government, a local authority, a religious or charitable institution or endowment, including a wakf, or any other private persons) who are known as 'land grabbers'. And whereas such land grabbers are forming bogus co-operative housi....
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....o any person on rental or lease and licence basis for construction, or use and occupation of unauthorized structures; and the term "to grab land" shall be construed accordingly, 12. Section 3 declares land grabbing in any form to be unlawful and an offence punishable under the Act. Section 4 prohibits land grabbing and prescribes punishment for committing an offence of land-grabbing. Section 5 is also a provision for other offences in connection with land grabbing and prescribes penalties. Section 6 does not spare even Companies from the consequences of conviction and punishment, if they commit an act of land-grabbing. Section 7 of the Act enables the Government to constitute Special Courts for the purpose of providing speedy inquiry into the alleged act of land grabbing and trial of cases in respect of the ownership and title to, or lawful possession of the land 'grabbed'. The relevant part of the said section reads thus; 7. Constitution of Special Courts : (1) The Government may, for the purpose of providing speedy enquiry into any alleged act of land grabbing, and trial of cases in respect of the ownership and title to, or lawful possession of, the land grabbed, by no....
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....bench in the interest of speedy disposal of the case. (e) Where a case under this Act is heard by a bench consisting of two members and the members thereof are divided in opinion, the case with their opinions shall be laid before another judicial member or the Chairman and that member or Chairman, as the case may be, after such hearing as he thinks fit, shall deliver his opinion and the decision or order shall follow that opinion. (5) The quorum to constitute a meeting of any bench of the Special Court shall be two. . . . (5D) (i). Notwithstanding anything in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), the Special Court may follow its own procedure which shall not be inconsistent with the principles of natural justice and fair play and subject to the other provisions of this Act and of any rules made thereunder while deciding the civil liability. (ii) Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 260 or Section 262 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) every offence punishable under this Act shall be tried in a summary way and the provisions of Sections 263 to 265 (both inclusive) of the said Code shall, as far as may be, apply to such trial. (iii) When....
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....pondent is a 'land grabber'. The Court considered the definition clause and the expressions 'land grabber' and 'land grabbing' and held that whenever there is land grabbing under the Act, proceedings can be initiated and the case can be decided by Special Court constituted under the Act. The Court also held that for the purpose of taking cognizance of a case under the Act, existence of an allegation of any act of land grabbing is sine qua non and not the truth or otherwise of the allegation. But to hold the person to be a 'land grabber', it is necessary to find that the allegations satisfying the requirement of land grabbing are proved. To make out a case under the Act, therefore, the petitioner before the Special Court must plead and prove two ingredients, namely, possidendi i.e., factual possession and animus i.e., intention of the person who is alleged to have grabbed land. If the two conditions are fulfilled, Special Court has jurisdiction to deal with and decide the matter and an appropriate order can be passed under the Act. It was also held that the jurisdiction of High Courts under Article 226 as also of this Court under Article 136 of the Co....
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....cide whether hut dwellers have got any claim over this land since the Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) has accepted Sri Farhatullah is the owner of the land in the award passed by him. Moreover it is also reported that this piece of land is shown as long spice in the sanctioned layout of the colony. As such, the Board is not interested to have this land for taking up a Scheme. Therefore, the Chairman has suggested that the Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) may be instructed to de- notify this land from acquisition and return the amount deposited with him by the Housing Board. 5. Government having examined the matter carefully accept the proposal of the Chairman, A.P. Housing Board and direct the Special Deputy Collector, Land Acquisition (Hyderabad) to send proposals for denotification of the land in question from acquisition and return the amount deposited with him by the A.P. Housing Board. 14. On the basis of the said order, the High Court observed that no land could be acquired without payment of compensation. No provision under the Act was shown to the Court which obliged the owner to handover vacant possession of the land and to withhold payment of com....
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....ted that the decision of the High Court in Writ Petition No. 4194 of 1988 was not final as appeal was filed against the said decision, at the time of hearing of the appeal, it was admitted that no such appeal was filed against the judgment of the High Court and the decision had attained finality. The consequence of the decision of the High Court in the circumstances is that in respect of two acres of land, proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act were held bad, award nullity and the land-owner continued to remain owner of the property with all rights, title and interest therein. If it is so, neither the Housing Board nor any other person can have any right over the said land. The Land Grabbing case instituted by the original land-owners in respect of two acres of land was, therefore, maintainable and the Court was required to decide the case in accordance with law. It is immaterial that the Housing Board is merely juristic person and not natural person. 16. The Special Court, in our opinion, considered the decision of the High Court in earlier petition in its proper perspective and recorded a finding that Housing Board was not the owner of the 'petition schedule land' as....
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....venue Development Officer to take steps to deliver possession of the land to the petitioners by evicting respondent No. 22 (A.P. Housing Board) within two months from the date of the receipt of the order and to report compliance. The High Court upheld that part of the order of the Special Court. 19. In our opinion, the learned Counsel for the land- owners-original petitioners is right in contending that when the acquisition proceedings and Award in respect of two acres of land was held bad and nullity by the High Court in previous proceedings, it was not open to the Special Court or the High Court to ignore the said order. Moreover, the Special Court was not right in observing that it was not alleged by the land-owners that the contesting respondents (private parties or A.P. Housing Board) were not land grabbers. It was expressly stated by the land-owners that they continued to remain owners of two acres of land in view of non delivery of possession of land to Housing Board and non payment of compensation thereof. The writ petition filed by them in respect of two acres of land had been allowed by the High Court in 1988 and the contention of the Housing Board was negatived that it ....
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.... that the Special Court ought not to have recorded any finding as regards adverse possession and ought have allowed the contesting respondents by granting liberty to approach Civil Court to establish their rights over any part of the land by adverse possession. 21. In this connection, reference was made to a recent decision of this Court in N. Srinivasa Rao v. Special Court under the A.P. Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act and Ors. AIR 2006 SC 3691 . A two Judge Bench of this Court in the above case held that the Special Court constituted under the Act has no jurisdiction to decide question as to acquisition of title by adverse possession in a proceeding under the Act as the same would fall within the domain of Civil Court. 22. The learned Counsel for respondent No. 4, on the other hand, relied on Konda Lakshmana Bapuji and submitted that a three Judge Bench of this Court in the said decision has held that such question can be decided by Special Court. In paragraph 53 of the decision, this Court observed: 53. The question of a person perfecting title by adverse possession is a mixed question of law and fact. The principle of law in regard to adverse possession is firmly establishe....