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TMI Blog2008 (11) TMI 662X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Trust of which the petitioner is a Trustee. For such unauthorized user, the respondent no. 1 is liable to pay compensation to the Trust. C). In the alternative, if the respondent no. 1 is not in a position to return the land, it is liable to allot alternate land to the Trust on freehold tenure." 4. The appellant herein and as well as the State of Maharashtra through its Secretary to the Ministry of Revenue and the Collector, Raigad have been impleaded as party respondents in the said Writ Petition. The first respondent/writ petitioner claims to be one of the Trustees of Sir Khan Bahadur Hormasji Bhiwandiwala Trust (hereinafter referred to as `the said Trust') and the writ petition itself has been filed in his capacity as Trustee. The first respondent in his writ petition pleaded that the said Trust is the owner of land bearing Gat No. 8/0 of village Belpada, Taluka Panvel, District Raigad admeasuring 19 Acres 26.4 gunthas which presently bears Survey No. 465 of village Kharghar Taluka Panvel, District Raigad admeasuring 9 Hectors 96 Aars. The entries in the revenue records according to him disclose the ownership of the said Trust in respect of the land in question. For the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... learned A.G.P., who in turn made an oral statement which is para phrased by the High Court in its judgment to the effect "the learned A.G.P. Mr. Malvankar on instructions from Mrs. Revathi A. Gaikar, Special Land Acquisition Officer, Panvel and Mr. M.N. Sanap, Tahsildar, Panvel who are present in the court makes a statement that on consideration of the documents in their possession that except for 93 Ars they have no documentary evidence to show that rest of the land was acquired." 8. The High Court relying upon the oral statement made by the learned A.G.P. and the reply affidavit of the appellant disposed of the Writ Petition directing Collector, Raigad to take steps to acquire the land by following due procedure and complete the acquisition proceedings within one year of receiving the requisition from the appellant. The question as to whether the first respondent/writ petitioner was entitled to payment of any compensation from the appellant for occupation of the land for over a period of 35 years was left open to be agitated in appropriate proceedings. 9. Aggrieved by the order passed by the High Court dated 07.02.2006 the appellant filed Special Leave Petition (c) No. ..../20 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s reply affidavit. Whether such an oral statement coupled with the averments made to the effect that the land is a private land by themselves would amount to recognising the title of the respondent? The fact remains that there is no whisper in the impugned order that Sir Khan Bahadur Hormasji Bhiwandiwala Trust continued to be the true and absolute owner of the land possessing valid and subsisting title as on the date of the filing of the writ petition. Nor there is any finding by the High Court as regards the nature of the land which is one of the most important factor that may have a vital bearing on the issue as to the entitlement of the respondent to get any relief in the writ petition. There is also no finding that the writ petitioner who filed the Writ Petition as an individual is the trustee of the said trust and thus entitled to prosecute the litigation on behalf of the trust. The High Court did not consider as to what is the effect of filing of the Writ Petition claiming to be a trustee without impleading the trust as the petitioner. The High Court ignored the statement made by the respondent in his Writ Petition about his representation to Tehsildar requiring to record hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the Confirmation Deed which is not in tune with the recitals in the Deed of Conveyance dated 26th August, 1982. The High Court did not address to itself as to whether such complex and disputed facts could be satisfactorily adjudicated in a proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution. The Court was carried away by the fact that the relief had already been granted inasmuch as the acquisition proceedings have commenced after the disposal of the Writ Petition. We are constrained to express our reservation about the manner and approach of the High Court in disposing of the Writ Petition and the Review Petition. 16. In our view, the High Court ought to have examined the contents of Deed of Confirmation as well as the Deed of Conveyance dated 26th August, 1982 before granting the relief as prayed for by the respondent. It is plainly evident from the Deed of Conveyance dated 26th August, 1982 that it was executed in favour of only one person namely Ms. Hemlata Bedi as the purchaser whereas in the Deed of Confirmation the name of Urmish Udani is also shown as the purchaser along with Ms. Hemlata Bedi. It is not clear from the document as to how all of a sudden Urmish Udani's n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... delay in moving the court for a Writ is an adequate ground for refusing a Writ. The principle is that courts exercising public law jurisdiction do not encourage agitation of stale claims and exhuming matters where the rights of third parties may have accrued in the interregnum. 20. The appellant in its reply opposing the admission of Writ Petition in clear and categorical terms pleaded that the writ petitioner has kept silent for more than 35 years and filed belated writ petition. It was asserted that on account of inordinate delay and laches the writ petition suffers from legal infirmities and therefore liable to be rejected in limine. The High Court did not record any finding whatsoever and ignored such a plea of far reaching consequence. 21. As noticed hereinabove the High Court obviously was impressed by the oral statement made during the course of the hearing of the writ petition and some vague and self defeating averments made in the affidavit filed by the appellant in the High Court. 22. In our opinion, the High Court while exercising its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution is duty bound to take all the relevant facts and circumstances into c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... award passed and the reference made to the Civil Court are set aside. 25. During the course of hearing of these appeals not only affidavits and additional affidavits but also some documents which may have a vital bearing on the merits of the case are placed on record. These affidavits and the documents filed into this court shall form part of the writ proceedings. The matter requires fresh consideration by the High Court. 26. Parties are given liberty to supplement their respective pleadings if they so choose and file additional documents, if any, which shall be received by the High Court for its consideration. We may hasten to add that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. All the contentions of both sides are expressly kept open for their determination by the High Court. 27. It will not be appropriate to dispose of the matter without one word about the conduct of the State Government reflecting highly unsatisfactory state of affairs. We express our grave concern as to the manner in which State has conducted in this case. It is the constitutional obligation and duty of the State to place true and relevant facts by filing proper affidavits enabling the co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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