Case: Bangalore Development Authority Vs. N.Jayamma

The said suit was filed by the respondent herein for declaration of title to the suit property situated in Sy. No.76/1. It was claimed by the respondent that she had purchased the property on June 22, 1994 ad-measuring East to West – 60 ft. and North to South – 50 ft. (hereinafter referred to as the suit property) from its previous owner and had constructed a building thereupon. The aforesaid suit property, which was part of Sy. No. 76/1 comprising 4 acres 31 guntas (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled property), was acquired by the State Government for Bangalore Development Authority – appellant herein (for short, the BDA), for which Notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, the Act) was issued on December 15, 1984 followed by a declaration under Section 6 of the Act on October 29, 1986. Purportedly, possession thereof was handed over to the BDA on August 30, 1988 vide Mahazar (Exhibit D-4). However, it appears that the actual possession of the suit property remained with the original owner who then sold it to the respondent in the year 1994, as stated above. It is on this basis that the respondent filed the suit on the ground that she was in possession of the said property for more than 12 years even after the acquisition thereof by the State Government and, in this manner, she had perfected her title by adverse possession. Thus, the relief claimed in the suit was for declaration that the respondent had become the ownerThe appellant contested the said suit by raising the plea that since the scheduled property had been acquired by the Government for formation of the layout and with effect from the date of final notification entire land vested with the Government, the respondent was precluded from claiming the possession thereof on the ground that it was already with her. It was also contended that the Government had handed over the possession of the land in question to the BDA on August 30, 1988 and BDA was in legal possession thereof. It was also submitted that once Notification under Section 4 of the Act was issued on December 15, 1984 and even declaration under Section 6 was issued on October 29, 1986, it was not permissible for the original owner to sell the acquired land to the respondent herein on June 22, 1994. It was also contended that as the land vested with the Government, in any case, the limitation under Article 112 of the Limitation Act, 1963 was 30 years and not 12 years and, therefore, the respondent could not claim adverse possession before the expiry of 30The trial court, on the basis of the pleadings, framed the followingWhether the plaintiff proves that she and her predecessors in title have been in continuous possession and enjoyment of the suit schedule property since more than 12 years, adverse to the interest of the defendant as pleaded in theWhether the plaintiff proves that she had perfected her title to the suit schedule property by way of adverse possession as pleaded in theWhether the plaintiff proves that the defendant and his officials are unlawfully interfering with her possession of the suit schedule property as alleged in theWhether the plaintiff proves that she is entitled for the declaration of title to the suit schedule property as sought for in theWhether the plaintiff proves that she is also entitled for the grant of permanent injunction against the defendant as ought for in theEvidence was led and arguments heard, which resulted in passing of judgment and decree dated April 07, 2006 by the Additional City Civil Judge, Bangalore. All the issues were decided in favour of the respondent herein, on the basis of which suit was decreed in her favour declaring that she is the owner in possession of the suit property having perfected her title by way of adverse possession. As a consequence, decree of permanent injunction was also passed restraining the appellant – BDA, its officials and agents, etc. from alienating the suit property either by way of lease, public auction or by allotting the same in favour of any third party or from interfering with the peaceful possession and enjoyment of the said property by the respondent. This judgment and decree was appealed against by the appellant before the High Court by filing Regular First Appeal No. 1279 of 2006. The High Court has, vide impugned judgment, affirmed the decree passed by the trial court thereby dismissing the appeal of the

Reasoning:
16) In M. Venkatesh (supra) as well, land was acquired by the State Government of Karnataka and given at the disposal of the BDA. Preliminary Notification was issued on July 17, 1984 and final Notification dated November 28, 1986 was published on December 25, 1986. Determination of amount of compensation payable to the landowners having been approved by the competent authority on August 21, 1986, the BDA claimed that possession of the land was taken over from the landowners and handed over to the engineering section of the BDA by drawing a possession Mahazar on November 06, 1987. A Notification under Section 16(2) of the Act was also published in the Karnataka Gazette dated July 04, 1991 which, according to the BDA, signified that the land in question stood vested with the BDA free from all encumbrances whatsoever. Here also, after taking of the aforesaid steps by the BDA, the original land owners of the acquired land sold the said land to different persons after carving out the sites/plots. When the actual possession was sought to be taken, the said subsequent purchasers (like the respondent in the instant appeal) filed writ petitions in the High Court. Their writ petitions, along with the writ petition of the respondent herein and some others, were the subject matter of the judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court in John B. Jamess case (supra). Like the respondent herein, the individuals/subsequent purchasers in the case of M. Venkatesh (supra) were also relegated to the civil court giving them permission to file the suit if they were claiming adverse possession. Five such suits were the subject matter of the judgment in M. Venkatesh (supra).The aforesaid analysis of the judgment in M. Venkatesh (supra) amply shows that it is squarely and directly applicable to the facts and circumstances of the present case. In the first instance, it shows that reliance of the respondent herein on the judgment of John B. James (supra) is of no avail. It would further demonstrate that the findings of the court below that only paper possession was taken and actual possession was not taken also becomes meaningless as the manner of taking possession in the instant case was also identical. In addition, it is pertinent that the respondent herein, in para 10 of the plaint, had herself admitted that the officials of the BDA had come to the suit property on April 24, 2001 and demolished the existing structure. This act of the BDA would amply demonstrate that there was no unhindered, peaceful and continuous possession of the suitas the argument predicated on Section 27 of the Bangalore Development Authority Act or Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 are concerned, again these issues were neither raised nor arise in the instant case. If the respondent, if at all, has any right to make claim on the aforesaid grounds, in any appropriate proceedings, she can do so, if permissible in law. We may clarify that this Court has not gone into these issues and, therefore, has not made any comments on the merits of such pleas raised by the