Case: State of Karnataka &amp; Another Vs. All India Manufacturers Organization &amp; Others

3. These appeals are directed against a common judgment of the High Court of Karnataka (dated 3.5.2005) by which three Public Interest Litigations being Writ Petition Nos. 45334/04 (All India Manufacturers Organisation v. State of Karnataka and Ors.), 45386/04 (J.C. Madhuswamy and Ors. v. State of Karnataka and Ors.) and 48981/04 (Dakshinamurthy and Anr. v. State of Karnataka and Ors.) were disposed of resulting in dismissal of Mr. J.C. Madhuswamys writ petition and a direction to the State of Karnataka to continue to implement a certain project known as the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (hereinafter the Project)4. A brief statement regarding the Project: Bangalore is the capital of the State of Karnataka and a rapidly developing city, which is projected to be the IT boom town in the country. As a result of the pressures of urbanisation and industrialisation, the infrastructure in and around Bangalore was found to be inadequate. The traffic situation in Bangalore and on the roads leading into and out of the city was found to be chaotic and hardly conducive to the important role that the city is expected to play in the near future. The Government of Karnataka, realising the importance of rapidly developing the city of Bangalore, and also for developing its transport and communication systems, conceived of the Project. The Project had twin objectives: firstly, to provide for an express highway linking Bangalore with Mysore, the former capital of the erstwhile State of Mysore, which is now coming up as an industrial town, and for developing infrastructure along the corridor and in and around Bangalore city. The Project is a massive undertaking, which requires design, construction, maintenance and operation of an Express Highway between Bangalore and Mysore. Equally, the Project is to also develop infrastructure around the periphery of Bangalore and all along the Bangalore-Mysore Express Highway, which is about hundred years old and has become incapable of handling the heavy volume of vehicular traffic5. On 28.9.1988, the State of Karnataka invited tenders for implementation of such an Express Highway. There was no satisfactory response to the tenders called for. There was only one tenderer and the tenderer insisted on certain conditions which were not acceptable to the Government of Karnataka. Thus, the bid of the tenderer was not accepted. A survey was conducted by the Asian Development Bank and its report pointed out that the projected population of Bangalore city would be about 8.2 million by the year 2011 and, therefore, there was an urgent need for improvement of the Bangalore-Mysore Corridor. It was also suggested that the State Government bear 20% of the project cost, along with the cost of land acquisition, if such a project was to be implemented. The State Government did not have sufficient means and had to look for other alternative ways for implementing this project. The State Government then decided to take up the project on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (hereinafter BOOT) basis with any consortium. The consortium was to carry out the development of the project from its own resources and recoup its investment by collection of tolls along the Express Highway6. On 20.2.1995, a Memorandum of Understanding (hereinafter MOU) was entered into between the State Government and the Consortium of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. USA (hereinafter VHB), Kalyani Group of Companies (hereinafter Kalyani) and SAB Engineering and Construction Inc. USA (hereinafter SAB). The Governor of the State of Massachusetts, U.S.A., Mr. William Weld, and Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda, the then Chief Minister of the State of Karnataka were present and appended their signatures thereto. It was agreed that the State Government would extend support for the development of the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway, provided commercial viability, competitiveness and feasibility of the project was established to the satisfaction of the State Government. The Consortium submitted a Project Report for review by the State Government7. On 5.6.1995, a High Level Committee (hereinafter the HLC) was formed under the Chairmanship of the Minister for Public Works. The HLC consisted of the Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department; Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development; Secretary, Public Works Department; Chief Engineer C and B (South Zone, Bangalore). The Chairman and Managing Director, Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation, were official members and the Chairman, Technical Advisory Committee (Irrigation) one K.C. Reddy was a non- official member. The HLC met from time to time and reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the Project. On 26.8.1995, the Consortium presented the details of the Project to the HLC. After detailed consideration of the Project, on 12.10.1995 the HLC submitted its report to the Government. The Project was considered in detail by the State Cabinet Sub- Committee, which recommended that the matter be placed before the Cabinet for consideration. The report of the HLC and the Project Report made by the Consortium was accepted by the Cabinet, subject to the modification that instead of seven townships as proposed in the Project Report, only five townships were to be developed8. A Government Order (No. PWD 32 CSR 95, Bangalore, dated 20.11.1995) ensued, which in terms pointed out that the implementation of the Project was to be done by a private consortium. The Preamble to the Government Order recited that the Project work was to be completed by the Consortium with their own resources and that the Consortium would keep the Project going for thirty years, so as to get a return of the expenditure, profit, etc. through collection of tolls. It is important to note that the land acquisition expenditure was also to be borne by the Consortium. To make the Project economically viable, the Consortium had proposed development of seven townships, which as already stated, was reduced to five by the Cabinet. It is also important to note that the Government Order specifically permitted the development of five townships along with the construction of the Express Highway. As already stated, the Consortium was to recoup its expenditure and obtain profits through tolls the first system of its kind in Karnataka. Consequently, it was felt that the modification of the existing laws might become necessary. The necessary legal changes were to be examined by the concerned administrative departments, who would takenecessary action and also extend co-operation for implementation of the Project9. The three members of the Consortium VHB, Kalyani and SAB entered into a Consent and Acknowledgement Agreement (hereinafter the CAA) dated 9.9.1996, specially assigning their respective rights under the Government Order (dated 20.11.1995) and the MOU with regard to the Project, in favour of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (hereinafter Nandi). Nandi had been registered on 16.1.1996 as a company under the Companies Act, 1956, to serve as a corporate vehicle for the development and implementation of the Project. On 21.12.1996, the CAA was forwarded to the State Government for necessary action. The State Government was advised by its Law Department (through Opinion No. 182 OPN II/97 dated 3/4.3.1997) that since the Government was finalising a separate agreement with Nandi, there was no need to specifically consent to the CAA. Consequently, the State Government took no further action except noting it10. In February 1997, Nandi submitted a draft of the Framework Agreement (hereinafter the FWA) to be executed between it and the State Government. This draft FWA was considered by the Core Committee, which had been set up to negotiate the terms with Nandi. It was also referred to the Cabinet Sub-Committee, which suggested certain modifications to the FWA. After due incorporation of such modifications, the Government of Karnataka approved the FWA on 17.3.1997 and the same was signed between Nandi and the State Government on 3.4.199711. Under Clause 4.1.1 of the FWA, the State Government set up an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary of the State to oversee the Project and its implementation keeping in mind the importance of timely completion. The Empowered Committee included technical experts and held about ten meetings from time to time, the last one being on 24.7.2004. The main task of the Empowered Committee was to remove administrative bottlenecks and to ensure the smooth execution of the Project. The Empowered Committee was the States agent of coordination and carried out the State Governments obligations under the FWA12. One of the key obligations of the State Government under the FWA was to make available approximately 20,193 acres of land. As set out in Schedule I to the FWA, 6,956 acres was Government land and the remaining 13,237 acres was private land, which was to be acquired by the State Government. There was also an undertaking by the State Government under the FWA to carry out appropriate amendments to its laws, rules and regulations so that the massive Project could be implemented fully and within a time-bound schedule. Accordingly, the provisions of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act, 1966 (the KIAD Act) were amended by Act No. 11 of 1997 so that the land required for the Project could be acquired expeditiously. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIAD Board) set up under the KIAD Act, entered into an agreement with Nandi on 14.10.1998 for acquisition of private land. Notifications were issued from time to time for acquiring lands for the ProjectThe Litigation in Somashekar Reddy13. While all these frenetic activities were going on for the successful and timely implementation of the Project, the FWA was challenged in a Public Interest Writ Petition No. 29221/97 in November 1997 (reported as H.T. Somashekar Reddy v. Government of Karnataka and Anr. (1999 (1) KLD 500 (DB) by one H.T. Somashekar Reddy, a retired Chief Engineer. The State Government and Nandi were the two respondents thereto. The FWA was challenged on all conceivable grounds and the writ petition was vigorously opposed by the State Government and also by Nandi. Both the State Government and Nandi contended that the FWA was valid and that it had been entered into in larger public interest. It was also successfully pleaded on the part of the State Government that it had agreed to provide the minimum extent of land [Ibid. at p. 529 (Paragraph 52), per Ashok Bhan, J.] for the Project, which was 20,193 acres of land and that no excess land was being acquired14. The Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court hearing the said writ petition formulated for its consideration, the following questions: [Ibid. at p. 518 (Paragraph 30), per Ashok Bhan, J.](a) Whether the Government has acted arbitrarily in entering into the agreement with Respondent No. 2?(b) Whether agreement is illegal as being opposed to public policy?(c) Whether the agreement contravenes any Constitutional provisions or other existing enactments?(d) Whether the agreement is vitiated by mala fides?(e) Whether the rights of any individual or groups of individuals is being illegally affected by the execution of the agreement?(f) Scope and extent of judicial review in matters of State Policy15. For the purpose of the present litigation, it is important to note that one of the main grounds of challenge to the FWA in Somashekar Reddy (supra) was that land was being acquired far in excess of what was required for the Project. In fact, it was specifically stated in the Writ Petition that Article 7 of the FWA (that provides for construction of townships) was the most damaging provision detrimental to the owners of land. Further, it was stated in the Writ Petition that the land requirement in Schedule I of the FWA was highly exaggerated and would illegally create huge profits for Nandi. It was prayed that the FWA be quashed and further, since the FWA was purportedly the result of offences of breach of trust, for institution of a Central Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter CBI) enquiry into the whole project16. Each of the questions was answered in favour of the respondents i.e. State of Karnataka and Nandi. It was held that the FWA was not arbitrarily entered into by the State Government; that it was not opposed to public policy; that it was not unconstitutional or illegal; that it was not vitiated by mala fides; that no rights of any individual or individuals had been illegally affected by the execution of the agreement. Finally, the court found that it could not exercise its power of judicial review to interfere with the FWA which was in reality a policy choice of the Government17. Further, as we shall discuss subsequently, the argument of excess land being acquired, was not acceded to by the High Court which found that the Project envisaged, in addition to the construction of an expressway between Bangalore and Mysore, other connected developmental activities, such as:(i) Development of area between Bangalore-Mysore(ii) Divergence of traffic from Mysore-Chennai; Chennai- Bombay(iii) Construction of elected road from Sirsi Circle upto 9.4 Kms(iv) Construction of 2 truck terminals(v) Development of five identified local areas into townships with all infrastructure for habitation and economic activities(vi) Utilisation of sewage water being put to no productive use by BWSSB(vii) Development of tourism to augment the States revenues. [Ibid. at p. 517 (Paragraph 29), per Ashok Bhan, J.]18. Thus, through an exhaustive consideration of all the background material and documents presented to it, the High Court dismissed the writ petition by holding against the petitioner on all the contentions urged. The judgment in Somashekar Reddy (supra) was challenged before this Court (in SLP (Civil) CC 1423/99) but was dismissed in limine on 26.3.1999. The judgment in Somashekar Reddy (supra) thus reached finality19. Although the writ petition in Somashekar Reddy (supra) was dismissed by the High Court by its judgment dated 21.9.1998, it is of relevance to notice that between November 1997, when this writ petition was filed, and when the petition was dismissed, the work of implementing the Project was going on in view of the stand of the State Government and Nandi. Accordingly, a number of notifications were issued for acquisition of the land required under the FWA. Many landowners challenged the acquisition of their lands before the High Court. Although the issue of the landowners will be dealt with in the second part of our judgment, it will be useful to note that the Government supported the stand of Nandi before the Single Judge, who partially allowed the land owners petitions. It was during the writ appeal stage that the Government reversed its stance and opposed Nandi20. Even while the said writ appeals filed in the land acquisition matters were pending before the High Court, a second round of writ petitions challenging the Project itself was filed before the High Court. Despite the High Courts go-ahead for the Project in 1997, and after seven years of implementation, suddenly in the year 2004, these petitions were filed against it in so-called public interest by two Members of the Legislative Assembly (hereinafter MLAs) and a social worker (i.e. Mr. J.C. Madhuswamy and others). This petition prayed for a CBI enquiry and to restrain the State Government from continuing with the Project or acquiring any further land thereunder. Perhaps inspired by Mr. J.C. Madhuswamy and others, and also in the so-called public interest, All India Manufacturers Organisation, as well as two ex-Mayors of Mysore (Mr. Dakshinamurthy and another), moved the High Court for a direction to the State Government to implement the Project according to the FWA21. The High Court in the impugned judgment (vide Paragraph 18) raised the following two questions for consideration in the three writ petitions:(1) Whether the FWA entered into between the Government of Karnataka and Nandi was a result of any fraud or misrepresentation as alleged by J.C. Madhuswamy and others and the State Government?(2) Whether any excess land than what is required for the Project had been acquired by the State Government and whether it is open to it to raise such a plea?22. The Division Bench disposed of all the writ petitions by a common judgment by which it dismissed Writ Petition No. 45386/04 filed by Mr. J.C. Madhuswamy and others with costs. Writ Petition Nos. 45334/04 and 48981/04 were allowed by the Division Bench directing the State of Karnataka and all its instrumentalities, including the KIAD Board, to execute the Project as conceived originally and to implement the FWA in letter and spirit. The High Court also directed the prosecution of K.K. Misra, Chief Secretary of the Government of Karnataka and M. Shivalingaswamy, Under Secretary, Department of Industries and Commerce, as envisaged by Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for certain offences which came to its notice as a result of the affidavits filed by them. K.K. Misra and M. Shivalingaswamy have filed separate appeals with regard to the direction of their prosecution with which we are not concerned at present.

Reasoning:
26. The High Court has come to the categorical conclusion that the flipflop on the part of the State Government occurred only because of politicians, that the mala fides, if any, appears to be on the part of the State Government for political reasons. The High Court has pointed out that the FWA did not materialise out of the blue. The FWA was negotiated over several months; it came to be drafted by considering several points that the Cabinete had raised. As we have already highlighted, it was only thereafter, when detailed deliberations had taken place at the highest levels of the State Government that the MOU was signed and the Project Report accepted. A Government Order (dated 20.11.1995) was issued requiring the Public Works Department to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Consortium of three companies, VHB, SAB and Kalyani. On 9.9.1996, through the CAA, the three members of the Consortium agreed tounconditionally and irrevocably transfer and assign, jointly and severallyall rights, interest and title granted to them with respect to the Infrastructure Corridor by GOK under the Government Order and the Memorandum of Understanding. The CAA came to be signed by the three members of the Consortium on the one hand and Nandi on the other; the Governor of Karnataka, on behalf of the Government of Karnataka, was shown as the Consenting Party. A copy of this agreement was forwarded to the State Government along with a forwarding letter dated 21.12.1996 requesting that the Government approve of the same and advise of its approval so that the original agreement could be given to the State Government for its consent. This letter was forwarded by the Public Works Department to the Law Department through a letter dated 22.1.1997 (No. PWD 155 CRM 96) seeking an opinion on the issue. The State Government was advised by its Law Department (through Opinion No. 182 OPN II/97 dated 3/4.3.1997) that since the Government was finalising a separate agreement with Nandi, there was no need to specifically consent to the CAA. Thus, it would appear that the State Government had specifically been made aware of the CAA and the fact that the members of the Consortium had transferred their rights to Nandi. The argument made before the High Court that the Government was unaware of the CAA, was defrauded to execute the FWA is, therefore, utterly dishonest. We concur with the decision of the High Court on this issue that the plea was lacking any bona fides and that there was neither fraud nor misrepresentation on the part of Nandi or any member of the Consortium27. Subsequently, as we have already discussed, Nandi as the assignee of the Consortium, submitted a draft of the FWA to the State Government which was considered by the Core Committee that had been set up to negotiate the terms with Nandi. The Core Committee referred the draft FWA to the Cabinete which suggested various modifications to it, which were incorporated in the FWA. Finally, the FWA was approved by the State Government and came to be signed on 3.4.1997. Thus, it appears that the plea of fraud and misrepresentation was clearly an afterthought and it was conveniently raised by the State Government through the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 45386/04, who were rightly described by the High Court as the State Governments mouth piece (vide Paragraph 22)28. The High Court has also totally disbelieved the affidavits of the Chief Secretary, K.K. Misra, and the Under Secretary, M. Shivalingaswamy on this issue. We have refrained from commenting on the merits of their affidavits since their appeals against prosecution for perjury are pending separately. We may, however, point out that both the affidavits of the two senior bureaucrats are on the issue that certain facts which had been suppressed from the Government had come to light after the judgment in Somashekar Reddy (supra) and that these indicated fraud and misrepresentation on the part of Nandi. Indeed, this was the central argument put forward for impugning the FWA29. The FWA was executed on 3.4.1997 and implemented by the parties for at least seven years. Several obligations under the FWA were carried out by the State Government and its instrumentalities and also by Nandi, which had invested a large amount of money in the Project. These included monies for payment of compensation to landowners whose lands were being acquired for the Project. Soon after the FWA was entered into, some interested parties had raised the issue in public interest that the FWA was a fraud and was nothing but a charade for a lucrative real estate business on the part of Nandi. The Government through the then Minister for Public Works vigilantly defended the Project against all these allegations both inside and outside the Legislature30. It would appear that the change of mind on the part of the State Government came abouty or otherwise with a change of Government in Karnataka in 2004. In the year 2004, while the State Governments writ appeal was still pending before the Division Bench, a statement was made by Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister, making serious allegations with regard to the Project stating that it was nothing but a charade by which Nandi had converted it into a real estate business. It was at this stage that a note (No. PWD/E/375/2004 dated 6.7.2004) was written by the new Minister, Public Works Department, Mr. H.D. Revanna, who is none other than the son of Mr. Deve Gowda, to the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department. The note in terms states that land acquisition by the State Government for the Project was to cease till the allegation that Nandi was carrying out a real estate business was enquired into. With this, the State Government suddenly halted/slowed all ongoing activities for smooth implementation of the Project. Indeed, it is strange that the State Government woke up after seven long years, and even more strangely after a change in the States political leadership, to the fact that there was fraud/ misrepresentation by Nandi or anyone else31. Pursuant to this, the Minister of the Public Works Department set up the Expert Committee (headed by K.C. Reddy) to go into the allegations of excess land acquired by the Government for implementation of the Project. After accepting the Interim Report of the Expert Committee, the Government withdrew its appeal filed before the High Court and the reasons for the same are mentioned in a Government Order (PWD 155 CRM 95 BMICP Expert Committee/2004, Bangalore dated 7.1.2005). As we shall see later in the judgment, the constitution and functioning of this Committee also illustrates the mala fides with which the State Government has approached the Project. Thus, the utter irresponsibility with which the theory of fraud/misrepresentation was put forward is thoroughly exposed by the High Court in its impugned judgment34. As a matter of fact, in a Public Interest Litigation, the petitioner is not agitating his individual rights but represents the public at large. As long as the litigation is bona fide, a judgment in a previous Public Interest Litigation would be a judgment in rem. It binds the public at large and bars any member of the public from coming forward before the court and raising any connected issue or an issue, which had been raised/should have been raised on an earlier occasion by way of a Public Interest Litigation. It cannot be doubted that the petitioner in Somashekar Reddy (supra) was acting bona fide. Further, we may note that, as a retired Chief Engineer, Somashekar Reddy had the special technical expertise to impugn the Project on the grounds that he did and so, he cannot be dismissed as a busybody. Thus, we are satisfied in principle that Somashekar Reddy (supra), as a Public Interest Litigation, could bar the present litigation40. First, learned counsel for the Respondents has pointedly drawn our attention to the identity of the prayers made in the previous Public Interest Litigation by Somashekar Reddy as compared to the prayers made in the present case of Mr. Madhuswamy and others. The prayers in Somashekar Reddys petition were: (a) for quashing the FWA and (b) for directing an inquiry by the CBI in the matter and to prosecute the offenders. In Mr. Madhuswamys petition, the prayers were: (a) to direct the CBI to conduct inquiries to various acts as enumerated by items 1 to 16 (specifically the issue of excess land) and (b) for quashing the various agreements, and acts done in pursuance of the Project and consequently, to denotify the land of all farmers situated away from the peripheral road and link road. We are therefore, satisfied that the prayers made in Somashekar Reddy (supra) and in Mr. Madhuswamys writ petitions are substantially the same41. Second, the cause of action in both Somashekar Reddy (supra) and the present cases is the FWA, which includes the provisions for acquiring 20,193 acres of land for the Project (comprising 13,237 acres of private land and 6,956 acres of Government land). Indeed, it was stated in Somashekar Reddys Writ Petition that the land requirement in Schedule I of the FWA was highly exaggerated and would illegally create huge profits for Nandi. Somashekar Reddy thus prayed that the FWA be quashed this prayer was, however, specifically rejected. The very same FWA that was upheld earlier has now been impugned in the present case42. Third, in both Somashekar Reddy and Mr. Madhuswamys petitions, the averment was that excess land than required for the implementation of the Project was being acquired by the State Government at the behest of Nandi and that the Project was nothing but a camouflage to carry out a real estate business by Nandi45. All of these unequivocally show that the issue of excess land (and connected issues) was specifically raised by the petitioner in Somashekar Reddy (supra) and was also forcefully denied by the State. In fact, the decision in Somashekar Reddy (supra), went further with the High Court according its imprimatur to the land requirements under the FWA amounting to 20,193 acres, which in no small measure, resulted from the States successful defence that it had provided the bare minimum of land for the Project calculated by a scientific method. The judgment also contains copious references to the issue of land (including the acreage), the types of land to be acquired, the land requirement for different aspects of the Project, the scientific techniques involved in identifying the land and road alignment etc. In these circumstances, it cannot be doubted that Explanation III to Section 11 squarely applies. It is clear that the issue of excess land under the FWA was directly and substantially in issue in Somashekar Reddy (supra) and hence, the findings recorded therein having reached finality, cannot be reopened in this case47. In the face of such a finding by the High Court, Explanation IV to Section 11 squarely applies as, admittedly, the litigation in Somashekar Reddy (supra) exhausted all possible challenges to the validity of the FWA, including the issue of excess land. Merely because the present petitioners draw semantic distinctions and claim that the excess land not having been identified at the stage of the litigation in Somashekar Reddy (supra), the Project should be reviewed, the issue does not cease to be res judicata or covered by principles analogous thereto. If we were toe the issues that had been raised/ought to have been raised in Somashekar Reddy (supra) it would simply be an abuse of the process of the court, which we cannot allow48. As we have pointed out, the cause of action, the issues raised, the prayers made, the relief sought in Somashekar Reddys petition and the findings in Somashekar Reddy (supra), and the claims and arguments in the present petitions were substantially the same. Therefore, it is not possible to accept the contention of the appellants before us that the judgment in Somashekar Reddy (supra) does not operate as res judicata for the questions raised in the present petitions49. There was considerable time taken by the learned counsel for the appellants in trying to persuade us that excess land had actually been delivered to Nandi under the FWA. A subsidiary argument was that even though the actual area of land delivered might not have been in excess, since land in prime areas had improperly been acquired for Nandis benefit, the issue needed to be. In our view, this argument too is not open to be agitated at this point. As we have already pointed out, the writ petition in Somashekar Reddy (supra) was the culmination of all such allegations which had been successfully refuted even on the floor of the Legislature. Finally, having failed on the floor of the Legislature, a Public Interest Litigation was filed on the ground that there was something wrong with the FWA and that it was virtually at to Nandi. The Division Bench of the High Court considered every argument very carefully and recorded findings on all the issues against Mr. J.C. Madhuswamy and others. In our view, permitting the argument on excess land to be heard again to scuttle a project of this magnitude for public benefit would encourage dishonest politically motivated litigation and permit the judicial process to be abused for political ends. The High Court, therefore, has refused to answer the first part of the second question framed for consideration on the ground that it was already answered in Somashekar Reddy (supra) and as it was res judicata, it could not be. Further, that since this argument involved details of contractual disputes, the High Court would not examine it in its writ jurisdiction. We are not satisfied that the High Court was wrong in so holding50. The High Courts finding on this issue only gains strength if we were to examine the factual matrix in which the State took its stand that excess land had been acquired for the Project. As we have previously stated, pursuant to the objections raised to the Project by the new Minister for Public Works, an Expert Committee was setup in 2004 to review the Project. The Expert Committee was conveniently headed by K.C. Reddy, who was the Advisor to the Public Works Minister. This K.C. Reddy was the same gentleman, who as a member of the previous HLC, had scrutinised the Project threadbare and had given it the green signal. Surprisingly however, at this stage, he appeared to be all willing to find faults and flaws in the Project and the FWA, despite the fact that there was an Empowered Committee that was required to monitor the implementation of the Project. The High Court rightly pointed out that the Expert Committee was constituted virtually in supersession of Clause 4.1.1 of the FWA51. The Expert Committee suddenly woke up to the alleged fact that excess land was being acquired. Like the State Government, the Expert Committee also mades and came out with a report saying that there was acquisition of excess land. Crucially, it left the actual identification of the excess lands to the KIAD Board. Surprisingly, the State Cabinet in its meeting dated 26.10.2004 accepted the report but reaffirmed its support to the Project and expressed some reservations on the acquisition of more lands than what was necessary for the Project52. We too cannot appreciate the conduct on the part of K.C. Reddy or the State Government. The inference drawn by the High Court is that the plea of fraud and misrepresentation sought to be raised was not only an afterthought but also false to the knowledge of the State Government. The High Court, therefore, observed (vide Paragraph 27):It is unfortunate that the petitioners and the State Government have chosen to raise this bogie (sic bogey) to defeat the public project subserving public interest53. Interestingly, neither the interim report nor the final report of the Expert Committee identified the excess land but in fact, left it for the KIAD Board. The counsel for the KIAD Board handed over a set of documents, which purportedly identified the specific excess lands. It was the grievance of the KIAD Board that they had not been given the opportunity for placing these documents before the High Court. Since the date of documents showed that they were drawn subsequent to the date on which the High Court had delivered its judgment, the learned Senior Counsel for KIAD Board Mr. K.K. Venugopal candidly admitted that this exercise was carried out after the impugned judgment had been delivered. It is a moot point whether the person, who swore this affidavit on behalf of the KIAD Board stating that no opportunity had been given to the KIAD Board to place these documents on the record of the High Court, needs to be considered for prosecution under Section 340 read with Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. We strongly deprecate such misleading or false affidavits on the part of the KIAD Board54. According to Mr. Venugopal, Article 300A of the Constitution, as well as the KIAD Act, would be violated if the KIAD Board were to directly acquire or acquiesce in the acquisition of land in excess of what is required for the Project. In our view, this is nothing but a repetition of the arguments made by the State of Karnataka. As we have elaborately discussed, that the land was not in excess has been held by the Division Bench of the High Court on two occasions and we agree with it. Thus, there was no question of the land being acquired for a purpose other than a public purpose or there being any contravention of Article 300A. In fact, we are somewhat surprised that this type of argument must come from the KIAD Board, which was intimately involved, from the very beginning, with the process of acquiring land. Further, the State and its instrumentalities (including the KIAD Board) were enjoined by Clause 5.1.1.1 of the FWA, to make best efforts to acquire the land required for the Project. Indeed, till the State itself changed its stand with regard to the Project, nothing was heard from the KIAD Board about lands being acquired in excess of the public purpose. Further, as an instrumentality of the State, the KIAD Board cannot have a case to plead different from that of the State of Karnataka. Thus, we are unable to countenance the arguments of Mr. Venugopal on behalf of the KIAD Board55. Considering the facts as a whole, the High Court came to the conclusion that since the Project had been implemented and Nandi had invested a large amount of money and work had been carried out for more than seven years, the State Government could not be permitted to change its stand and to contend that the land allotted for the Project was in excess of what was required. Having perused the impugned judgment of the High Court, we are satisfied that there is no need for us to interfere therewith. Thus, there is no merit in this contention, which must consequently fail60. In these circumstances, we find no reason to interfere with the said directions of the High Court. In the future also, we make it clear that while the State Government and its instrumentalities are entitled to exercise their contractual rights under the FWA, they must do so fairly, reasonably and without mala fides; in the event that they do not do so, the Court will be entitled to interfere with the same61. The High Court also found, justifiably in our view, that the writ petitioners had been sponsored by the State Government to put forward its changed stand in the garb of a Public Interest Litigation62. Although this should have really put an end to the writ petitions filed by Mr. Madhuswamy and others, the High Court had to consider the petitions filed by Mr. Dakshinamurthy and the All India Manufacturers Organisation, who were also before the court by way of Public Interest Litigation and sought a Mandamus of the continuation of the Project. A grievance was made before the High Court that these were persons put up by Nandi and that they were virtually projecting the viewpoint of Nandi. The High Court having taken note of the same has said that despite this, larger public interest required the implementation of the Project. We see no reason to differ with the High Court on this point63. Writ Petition No. 45386/04 (Mr. J.C. Madhuswamy and others) was rightly dismissed as raising the very same issues which had been concluded by the decision in Somashekar Reddy (supra). Writ Petition Nos. 45334/04 and 48981/04 were rightly allowed and the order to implement the Project in its letter and spirit had been made in exercise of the writ jurisdiction of the High Court. We refrain from dealing with the third relief granted, namely directing the prosecution of K.K. Misra and M. Shivalingaswamy, as their appeals shall be independently dealt with by this Court70. The argument that no notice was served on the landowners under Section 28(1) of the KIAD Act, appears to be factually incorrect. Even the learned Single Judge who partially allowed the writ petition came to the conclusion (vide Paragraph 22) in his judgment (dated 18.12.2003) that thepetitioners in all these cases have filed objections on several grounds. Even in the appeal before the Division Bench, the High Court observed (vide Paragraph 30) that it wasnot in dispute that the land owners were served with notices and the objections filed by them have been considered. Even before us, when these appeals were argued, no attempt was made by any of the learned counsel to satisfy us that the appellants had not actually been served notice of the acquisition. Neither was the finding of the learned Single Judge or the Division Bench impugned on this point. We are, therefore, unable to accept the contention that notices were not served on the appellants as required under Section 28(1) of the KIAD ActVagueness of Notice of Acquisition71. The next contention is that the notice of acquisition was vague and consequently prejudiced any effective objection being made by the landowners whose lands were sought to be acquired. The vagueness of the notification, it is contended, has vitiated the notice itself, according to the learned counsel for some of the landowners72. The notification in the instant case states that the lands were being acquired for the purposes of industrial development i.e. establishing and developing industrial areas by the KIAD Board. In our opinion, the purpose indicated in the notifications is sufficiently precise and is not affected by the vice of vagueness as alleged. Our attention was drawn to the judgment of this Court in Aflatoon v. Lt. Governor of Delhi [(1975) 4 SCC 285] 73. It is difficult to accept that the landowners were not aware of the purpose of the acquisition nor can it be accepted that they were unable to file their objections on this ground. As a matter of fact, as the High Court has concurrently found, they did file their objections before the competent authorities. We do not see any prejudice caused to them as a result of the wordings of the notification of acquisition. The concerned authority also heard them on the objections filed after affording them an opportunity to file such objections under Section 28(2) of the KIAD Act. Thus, there is no substance in the contention of the appellants that the notification was vague and hence that the State did not comply with the principles of natural justice74. The next contention urged on behalf of the landowners is that the lands were not being acquired for a public purpose. The counsel who have argued for the landowners have expatiated in their contention by urging that land in excess of what was required under the FWA had been acquired; land far away from the actual alignment of the road and periphery had been acquired, consequently, it is urged that even if the implementation of the Highway Project is assumed to be for a public purpose, acquisition of land far away therefrom would not amount to a public purpose nor would it be covered by the provisions of the KIAD Act75. In our view, this was an entirely misconceived argument. As we have pointed out in the earlier part of our judgment, the Project is an integrated infrastructure development project and not merely a highway project. The Project as it has been styled, conceived and implemented was the BangaloreMysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, which conceived of the development of roads between Bangalore and Mysore, for which there were several interchanges in and around the periphery of the city of Bangalore, together with numerous developmental infrastructure activities along with the highway at several points. As an integrated project, it may require the acquisition and transfer of lands even away from the main alignment of the road76. The various changes brought about to the KIAD Act, also reflect the intention of the States Legislature to provide for land acquisition for the Project. The expressions Industrial area and Industrial Infrastructural facilities as defined under the KIAD Act, definitely include within their ambit establishment of facilities that contribute to the development of industries. We cannot forget that, as originally enacted, the KIAD Act had a different, narrower definition of Industrial area in Section 2(6). In 1997, the definition was broadened to also include industrial infrastructural facilities and amenities. Further, Section) was added to define Industrial Infrastructural facilities in a manner broad enough to take into its sweep the land acquisition for the Project77. The learned Single Judge erred in assuming that the lands acquired from places away from the main alignment of the road were not a part of the Project and that is the reason he was persuaded to hold that only 60% of the land acquisition was justified because it pertained to the land acquired for the main alignment of the highway. This, in the view of the Division Bench, and in our view, was entirely erroneous. The Division Bench was right in taking the view that the Project was an integrated project intended for public purpose and, irrespective of where the land was situated, so long as it arose from the terms of the FWA, there was no question of characterising it as unconnected with a public purpose. We are, therefore, in agreement with the finding of the High Court on this issue78. As regards these appeals, the impugned judgment of the High Court (vide Paragraph 32) specifically records that the appellants did not have any right or interest in the land in question on the date that they filed the writ petitions before the High Court. The counsel too admitted the same before the High Court. The High Court accordingly found that the writ petitions were not maintainable. Since the writ petition proceeded on this footing, we cannot permit the appellants to take a different stand before us, contrary to what had been stated before the High Court. Since we have not been convinced otherwise, the writ petitions were not maintainable and the High Court was justified in the view that it took79. In summary, having perused the well considered judgment of the Division Bench which is under appeal in the light of the contentions advanced at the Bar, we are not satisfied that the acquisitions were, in any way, liable to be interfered with by the High Court, even to the extent as held by the learned Single Judge. We agree with the decision of the Division Bench that the acquisition of the entire land for the Project was carried out in consonance with the provisions of the KIAD Act for a public project of great importance for the development of the State of Karnataka. We do not think that a Project of this magnitude and urgency can be held up by individuals raising frivolous and untenable objections thereto. The powers under the KIAD Act represent the powers of eminent domain vested in the State, which may need to be exercised even to the detriment of individuals property rights so long as it achieves a larger public purpose. Looking at the case as a whole, we are satisfied that the Project is intended to represent the larger public interest of the State and that is why it was entered into and implemented all along.