S.Nagaraj (D) By Lrs.& Ors vs B.R.Vasudeva Murthy & Ors

Permission to file Special Leave Petition (C) Nos.18843/2007 and 18846/2007 granted. Delay condoned and leave granted in the Special Leave Petitions. We also 2 condone the delay in filing the applications for substitution and allow the applications for substitution. We also allow the applications for impleadment.

3. The relevant facts briefly are that the Mysore (Personal & Miscellaneous) Inam Abolition Act, 1954 (for short `the Inam 3 Abolition Act') was enacted for abolition of personal Inams and other miscellaneous Inams in the State of Mysore, except Bellari District. On the Inam Abolition Act coming into force on 1.2.1959, all rights, title and interests vested in the Inamdars ceased and vested absolutely in the State of Mysore free from all encumbrances. Every Inamdar, however, was entitled to be registered as an occupant of land and could make an application before the Special Deputy Commissioner, Inam Abolition, for such registration as an occupant.

5. On 4.8.1979, Sreenivasa Rao filed O.S. No.687/1979 in the Civil Court, Bangalore, questioning the grant made by the State Government in favour of the Sangha and praying for a 5 decree of permanent injunction against the Sangha in respect of the land. On 1.11.1980, however, Sreenivasa Rao and Babu Rao entered into an agreement with the Sangha to withdraw the suit on receipt of Rs.2,000/- per acre in respect of 34 acres and 3 guntas of land in addition to the amount of Rs.3,40,750/- deposited by the Sangha towards the price of the entire land with the Government. Accordingly, on 8.11.1980 Sreenivasa Rao filed a memo in the Court saying that he does not want to press O.S. No.687/1979 as the suit has been settled out of court and on 10.11.1980 the Principal Munsif, Bangalore, dismissed the suit as not pressed.

6. In the meanwhile, the Karnataka Inam Abolition Laws (Amendment Act) 1979 amended the Inam Abolition Act providing that the Tribunal constituted under Section 48 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 (for short `the Tribunal') instead of the Special Deputy Commissioner, Inam Abolition, will decide the claims for occupancy rights under the Inam Abolition Act. Thereafter, the Tribunal by its order dated 23.6.1982 passed in Case No. I.R.F. INA 419/1979-80 decided the claims of Sreenivasa Rao and Babu Rao for 6 occupancy rights in respect of the land and ordered the confirmation of the occupancy rights in the suit land in favour of Sreenivasa Rao and Babu Rao jointly. Pursuant to the order dated 26.6.1982 of the Tribunal, Sreenivasa Rao and Babu Rao withdrew the amount of Rs.3,40,750/- deposited with the Government by the Sangha. During the years 1982 to 1990, the Sangha got the layout plan of the land of 34 acres 3 guntas allotted to the Sangha sanctioned from the Bangalore Development Authority (for short the `BDA') and allotted sites to its members and the members of the Sangha built houses on some of these sites and some members also transferred their house sites to others.

7. In the year 1990, however, Nagaraj, Venkojirao and Narhari, the legal representatives of Sreenivasa Rao filed W.P. No.11412/1990 in the Karnataka High Court challenging the order dated 15.6.1979 of the State Government of Karnataka granting the land in favour of the Sangha. On 8.7.1992, the legal representatives of Sreenivas Rao, namely, Nagaraj, Venkojirao and Narhari also filed the suit O.S. No.4349/1992 for declaring the grant of the aforesaid land in favour of the 7 Sangha as null and void and for declaring all acts of the BDA sanctioning the layout in respect of the suit land in favour of the Sangha as illegal and for delivery of vacant possession of the suit land to them. On 17.6.1995, the three legal representatives of Sreenivasa Rao filed a memo in the Court of Additional Civil Judge, Bangalore, for withdrawal of the suit O.S. No.4349/1992 and on 24.9.1995 the suit was dismissed as withdrawn by the Court. On 28.6.1996, W.P. No. 11412/1990 was dismissed by the learned Single Judge of the Karnataka High Court. Nagaraj, Venkojirao and Narhari, however, filed Writ Appeal No.7574/1996 against the order passed by the learned Single Judge but the Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court by its order dated 15.9.1998 after deciding various issues raised by the parties dismissed the writ appeal. Nagaraj and Narhari then filed SLP (C) No.2833/1999 against the order dated 15.9.1998 passed by the Division Bench before this Court and on 9.4.1999 this Court, without issuing notice in the SLP and while disposing of the SLP, made observations that if the proceedings pending before the Special Deputy Commissioner with regard to the 8 claim of Inamdars have ended in favour of the petitioners who have filed the SLP, it will be open to them to approach the State Government for modification of the order granting land to the Sangha. The Teachers' Colony Residents Association (for short the `Association') which was impleaded as respondent No.5 in SLP(C) 2833/1999 filed an application before this Court for recalling the order dated 9.4.1999, but this Court in its order dated 28.8.2000 in SLP(C) 2833/1999 observed that there was nothing adverse to respondent No.5- Society and accordingly dismissed the application for recalling.

8. Thereafter, on 6.8.2002 the State Government of Karnataka directed the Special Commissioner to acquire 14 sites in the layout developed by the Association with a further direction to the Special Deputy Commissioner to allot 14 sites to the family members of the Inamdars. The owners of the 14 sites filed W.P. Nos.32462-473/2002 in the Karnataka High Court, challenging the order dated 6.8.2002 of the State Government and by an order dated 28.11.2002 the learned Single Judge of the High Court allowed the Writ Petitions and remitted the matter to the State Government with the direction 9 to comply with the order dated 9.4.1999 of this Court after hearing the petitioners and the respondents in the writ petitions and any other person interested in the matter. The legal representatives of the Inamdars also filed Writ Petition Nos.39046-48/2002 seeking deletion of a condition of the grant made in their favour, but on 9.1.2003 they withdrew the writ petitions as not pressed. The State Government of Karnataka by its order dated 10.2.2003 then directed the Special Deputy Commissioner to stop construction on the land in dispute till disposal of the final proceedings and this order dated 10.2.2003 was challenged before the Karnataka High Court in W.P. No.8551/2003, but by an order dated 6.3.2003 the High Court while dismissing the writ petitions directed the State Government to decide the matter within two months. The Special Deputy Commissioner then submitted his report to the Statement Government on 28.5.2003 and when the State Government did not pass any order in compliance of the order of this Court in SLP(C) 2833/1999, the Inamdars filed I.A. No.3 in the aforesaid SLP alleging contempt and this Court issued notice in the I.A. on 8.9.2003.

The background facts in which this Civil Appeal has been filed are that the appellant filed a suit being O.S. NO.1150 of 2009 in the City Civil Court, Bangalore, along with an application for temporary injunction (I.A.No.1 of 2009) for 61 restraining the respondents from putting up any construction on the suit property. On 18.02.2009, the City Civil Court, Bangalore, while issuing summons/notices to the respondents, directed the parties to maintain the status quo in respect of the suit property. In response to the summons/notices, the respondents appeared in the suit and filed I.A. No.2 of 2009 praying to the City Civil Court to vacate the order of status quo on the ground that the entire dispute was pending before this Court in S.L.P. (C) No.10352 of 2007 and other connected SLPs filed against the common judgment dated 22.12.2006 of the Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court. The Trial Court took the view that since the entire dispute is pending before this Court, this Court alone has jurisdiction to consider grant of interim relief and by its order dated 02.04.2009 rejected the application for temporary injunction. The appellant thereafter filed Miscellaneous First Appeal No.2519 of 2009 before the Karnataka High Court against the order dated 02.04.3009 of the City Civil Court, but the Karnataka High Court by its order dated 08.06.2009 also dismissed the Miscellaneous First Appeal on the ground that 62 the subject-matter of the suit was also the subject-matter of S.L.P. (C) No.10352 of 2007 before this Court.

Our conclusions with reasons

Thereafter, an I.A. was filed by the Teachers' Colony Residents Association which was the fifth respondent in the SLP and this Court dismissed the I.A. by order dated 28.8.2000 with the following order:

41. For the aforesaid reasons, the directions in the order dated 22.12.2003 of the Minister, Revenue, Government of Karnataka, for cancellation of grant made in favour of the Sangha and for transfer of vacant 182 sites from the Sangha to the Inamdars or for payment of compensation in lieu thereof by the Sangha to the Inamdars and the directions in the order dated 22.12.2003 to the BDA to handover the vacant civic amenity sites to the Inamdars free of cost and to acquire the land forming the ring road and pay compensation for such acquisition, are set aside. The impugned common judgment dated 22.12.2006 of the Karnataka High Court is also set aside and the writ petitions filed before the Karnataka High Court are allowed. The Civil Appeals are disposed of accordingly. No costs.

Since we have decided the dispute pending before this Court, we set aside the impugned order dated 08.06.2009 passed by the Karnataka High Court in Miscellaneous First Appeal No.2519 of 2009 and the order dated 02.04.2009 passed by the City Civil Court, Bangalore, in I.A.Nos.1 and 2 of 2009 and remand the matter to the City Civil Court, Bangalore, to hear the parties and decide the application for temporary injunction and the suit in accordance with our 63 judgment delivered today in Civil Appeal Nos.3038 of 2007 and other connected Civil Appeals.

The appeal stands disposed of accordingly. No costs. A copy of the judgment passed today in Civil Appeal Nos.3038 of 2007 and other connected Civil Appeals be sent to the City Civil Court, Bangalore.