- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, DHARWAD BENCH DATED THIS THE 18TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2025 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ WRIT PETITION NO. 103597 OF 2025 (LA-RES) BETWEEN: 1. SHIVAPPA A/F BHIMAPPA KACHI AGE. 61 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURE, R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 2. DUNDAPPA S/O PARAPPA KACHI AGE. 70 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURE, R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 3. KEMPANNA S/O PARAPPA KACHI AGE. 65 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURE, R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 4. RATNAVVA W/O KALLAPPA KACHI AGE. 60 YEARS, OCC. HOUSEHOLD R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 Digitally signed by GIRIJA A. BYAHATTI Location: High Court of Karnataka, Dharwad Bench, Dharwad - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 5. MARUTI S/O KALLAPPA KACHI AGE. 35 YEARS, OCC. SERVICE, R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 6. BASAVARAJ S/O KALLAPPA KACHI AGE. 30 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURE, R/O.JINARAL, TQ. HUKKERI, DIST. BELAGAVI-591243 …PETITIONERS (BY SRI. B P MATHAPATI, ADVOCATE) AND: 1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY REVENUE DEPARTMENT M.S.BUILDING BENGALURU-560001 2. THE SPECIAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER LAND ACQUISITION , REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT, MAJOR IRRIGATION PROJECTS, SUVARNA SOUDHA, BELAGAVI-590001 3. THE SPECIAL LAND ACQUISITION OFFICER HIDAKAL DAM AT. HIDAKAL TQ. HUKKERI DIST. BELAGAVI-591107 4. THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER KNNL G.R.B.C, DIV.NO.2, HIDAKAL DAM AT. HIDAKAL TQ. HUKKERI DIST. BELAGAVI-591107 - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 5. THE ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE ENGINEER KNNL C.R.B.C, DIV.NO.1 HIDAKAL DAM AT. HIDAKAL TQ. HUKKERI DIST. BELAGAVI-591107 6. THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER KARNATAKA NEERAVARI NIGAMA NIYAMITA WALMI BUILDING, DHARWAD-580011 7. THE MANAGING DIRECTOR KNNL, NO.1, COFFEE BOARD BUILDING DR.B.R. AMBEDKAR ROAD, BENGALURU-560001 …RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. P.N. HATTI., HCGP FOR R1 TO R3; SRI. S.M. KALWAD., ADVOCATE FOR R4 TO R7) THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO ISSUE A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS OR ANY ORDER DIRECTING THE RESPONDENT NO. 4 AND 5 TO INITIATE THE ACQUISITION PROCEEDINGS WITH RESPECT TO SY. NO. 102 AND 106/4 AND PAY THE COMPENSATION AS PER THE RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT ACT, 2013 AND ETC. THIS WRIT PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN ‘B’ GROUP THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 ORAL ORDER (PER: THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURAJ GOVINDARAJ) 1. The Petitioners are before this Court seeking for the following reliefs: a. Issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any order directing the Respondent No.4 and 5 to initiate the acquisition proceedings with respect to Sy.No.102 and 106/4 and pay the compensation as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013; b. Issue any other writ or direction as this Hon’ble Court thinks fit and proper in the interest of justice and equity. 2. The grievance of the Petitioners was that the land of the Petitioners in Sy.Nos.102 and 106/4 has been put to use by Respondent No.4 - Karnataka Neeravi Nigam Limited (KNNL) without acquisition and a canal has been laid on the said land. It is in that background that when the matter was taken up on 4.8.2025 Respondent No.7 who is the Managing Director of KNNL was directed to file an affidavit as to how without acquiring the land of the Petitioners, - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 such a canal has been constructed and who are the officers responsible for doing so. In pursuance thereof, an affidavit dated 12.8.2025 has been filed by the in-charge Executive Engineer which reads as under:- AFFIDAVIT I, Aravind Jamakhandi S/o Hanumanthappa, Age: 57 years, Occ: In-charge EE, GRBCC Division.2, Hidkal Dam, Dist: Belagavi, today come to Dharwad, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as follows: 1. I state that I am the Respondent no.4 in the above said writ petition and I am acquaintance with the facts and circumstances of the case. Hence swearing to the contents of this affidavit. 2. I state that I am regularly working as Assistant Executive Engineer in GRBCC Sub Division No.13, Hidkal Dam since 06/02/2020 and in addition to this regular work, I am entrusted the work as In-charge Executive Engineer to the office of Respondent no.4 on 01/03/2025 and since then I am working in the office of Respondent no.4 as a responsible officer in respect of acquisition proceedings and other development works. 3. I state that on 29/12/1995 4(1) preliminary notification was issued by Respondent no.3 SLAO to acquire the various lands including the Petitioners land and at the stage of issuance of 6(1) notification these proposed lands were dropped from the acquisition and as a result acquisition proceedings were vitiated as no approval was given by the Secretary -2 to the Revenue Department. In this regard Respondent no.3 SLAO has also requested his higher authorities, Secretary -2 to the Revenue Department to give approval to proceed with the acquisition proceedings in order to avoid the burden of extra acquisition cost. However, based on 4(1) notification issued by the SLAO Respondent no.4 has constructed the High Level left Bank Canal Distributory which - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 is approximately in the dimension of Canal Section Are Bed Width 0.6m And Top Width 0.9m this Canal Discharged Nearly 2.30 Cusecs the land of Petitioner and canal has been formed in the interest of farmers to help them in the cultivation work and canal water has been passing in their respective lands through the said distributory channel and by that time we were unaware that the acquisition proceedings initiated in 1995 would be vitiated. However, I submit that Petitioners land has been utilized to construct the canal based on the acquisition proceedings initiated in 1995. 4. I state that in pursuant to the representation dated 08/02/2024 given to the Special Officer of Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Respondent no.3 has addressed a letter to the office of Respondent no.4 on 20/05/2024 with request to send the fresh proposal to acquire the land of Petitioners and for which we have requested Respondent no.3 SLAO on several occasions i.e. on 13/06/2024, 18/05/2024, 29/07/2024, 03/09/2024, 09/01/2025, 03/02/2025 & 24/07/2025 to furnish detail information and entire records of previous acquisition proceedings which includes project details, proposal order, etc. but no necessary action has been taken to resend the requisite documents to initiate the acquisition proceedings. I submit that we have initiated the necessary action on the representation of the Petitioners and also sincere effort was made by this office of Respondent no.4 & 5 to initiate the acquisition proceedings. Apart from this, all the development taken in this case has been also intimated to one of the Petitioner by vide letter dated 06/08/2024 and thereafter on 23/08/2024 Superintendent Engineer, KNNL, GRBCC Circle Hidkal Dam has also addressed a letter to Chief Engineer, Irrigation Zone (North), Belagavi to consider the claim of Petitioner and on different dates i.e. on 05/09/2024 & 19/09/2024 Superintendent Engineer, KNNL, GRBCC Circle Hidkal Dam has also addressed a letter to this Office to give endorsement to the Petitioners with regard to this acquisition proceedings. I submit that I couldn't commence with the acquisition proceedings as earliest point of time since requisite documents were not sent to this office by the Respondent no.3 SLAO, however in order to avoid further delay in acquisition proceedings it was requested to Respondent no.3 to initiate the acquisition proceedings based on the earlier proposal sent to his office and subsequently it was also informed Respondent no.3 that fresh proposal - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 would be submitted to initiate the acquisition proceedings after getting approval from the office of Respondent no.7. Hence, I submit that all the effective steps has been taken by Nigam to initiate acquisition proceedings pertains to the land of Petitioner. I submit that all the JMC work has been completed and based on the previous approval also, Respondent no.3 can initiate the acquisition proceedings as per JMC if it is permitted. 5. I state that based on the 4(1) notification, canal was constructed in 1996 in the land of Petitioners and at that time one Sri. B. L. Golasangi was working as Executive Engineer in the office of Respondent no.4 and 1 submit that there is no lapse of the part of KNNL officials and as of now 1 am solely responsible officer for the construction of canal in my particular division and Respondent no.7 is no way concerned with this project except giving approval to the acquisition proceedings. Hence I have filed affidavit on behalf of Respondent no.7. I submit that the necessary documents are furnished along with the statement of objections for the kind perusal of this Hon'ble court. What I stated above are true to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. WHEREFORE, it is prayed that this Hon'ble court may be pleased to accept the affidavit filed by me in compliance of the order dated 04/08/2025 passed by this Hon'ble court, in the interest of justice and equity. 3. Firstly, the direction which had been issued was for Respondent No.7 – Managing Director to file an affidavit. Instead of the Managing Director filing an affidavit, the in-charge Executive Engineer has filed the affidavit on the ground that it is the Executive - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 Engineer who is in-charge of the project and as such, the affidavit has been filed by him. 4. It was not for the Executive Engineer to decide to file his affidavit when this Court had specifically directed the Managing Director to file the affidavit. The reason why the Managing Director was directed to file the affidavit was for the Head of the Organisation to be made aware of the happenings in his organisation and take responsibility for such happenings. Instead of doing so, the Executive Engineer has filed the affidavit which is not in terms the order passed by this Court. It is therefore for the Managing Director to take such action against the Executive Engineer as he may deem necessary. 5. Be that as it may, a perusal of the affidavit of the in- charge Executive Engineer would indicate that a notification under subsection (1) of Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 had been issued on - 9 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 29.12.1995 but no final notification under subsection (1) of Section 6 had been issued in respect to the lands of the Petitioners inasmuch as the lands of the Petitioners were dropped from the final acquisition. The Secretary-II to the Revenue Department had also not granted approval for such acquisition. Very strangely in the affidavit, it has been contended that in view of the notification issued under subsection (1) of Section 4, the KNNL proceeded to construct the High Level Left Bank Canal Distributary on the land of the Petitioners in the interest of the farmers to help them in cultivation work. Subsequent thereto, the matter has been taken up with the SLAO for notifying the said lands. It is alleged that the SLAO did not send the requisite documents for the purpose of such acquisition and now to avoid further delay in acquisition, a fresh proposal would be submitted to initiate the acquisition proceedings after getting approval from Respondent No.7 – Managing Director. - 10 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 In that background, it is submitted that KNNL has taken all steps to initiate acquisition proceedings and, thereafter, compensation will be paid in terms of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. 6. From perusal of the above, it is clear that though the lands of the Petitioners had been dropped from the final acquisition notification under subsection (1) of Section 6, the officers of the KNNL took the law in their own hands and constructed the canal in violation of all applicable provisions of law in respect of the principles of eminent domain. KNNL and or its officers could never have made use of the land of the Petitioners without acquiring it. Merely a proposal for acquisition by way of primary notification under subsection (1) of Section 4 would not give any right to anyone, much less the beneficiary of the acquisition, to use the land. Many more proceedings - 11 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 were to be followed inasmuch as an award had to be passed, possession was to be taken, compensation paid. None of these having occurred, the canal has been constructed without completion of acquisition proceedings. Such an action on part of the officers of the State is a fraud on power requiring stringent actions to be taken, since the constitutional rights of a citizen of the country have been trampled upon without following the due procedure of law. 7. In that view of the matter, I am of the opinion that the Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka would have to take necessary action against the concerned officers as also to issue necessary instructions to all concerned that without acquiring the land of a citizen of the country, no action to be taken or forcible dispossession or use of the land to be made for any purpose, however, noble and however in the interest of public it may be. As such, I pass the following: - 12 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 ORDER i) The Writ Petition is allowed. ii) A mandamus is issued directing Respondents No.1 to 7 to initiate necessary acquisition proceedings under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 within a period of two weeks from now and complete the said process within a period of eight weeks considering that Petitioners has no objection for the said acquisition to be completed upon due compensation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 as also damages and interest from the date of usage of the property of the Petitioners till date being made available. - 13 - HC-KAR NC: 2025:KHC-D:10382 WP No. 103597 of 2025 iii) The Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, is directed to cause an enquiry into the present matter, as also an enquiry into any other matter where KNNL and or similar organisations have made use of lands of the citizens of the country without completing the acquisition proceedings. iv) An affidavit and report of the Chief Secretary to be filed within six weeks from now. v) Though the above matter is disposed for reporting compliance relist on 15.10.2025. Sd/- (SURAJ GOVINDARAJ) JUDGE PRS List No.: 1 Sl No.: 170