Ganapathy Iyer vs State

T.K. Joseph, J.—The suit which has given rise to this appeal was for a declaration that proceedings taken under the Land Acquisition Act for compulsory acquisition of the plaintiff''s land were illegal and for quashing the same. The suit was dismissed by the court below and the plaintiff has come up in appeal. The first point urged on behalf of the appellant is that no order was taken by the Collector as provided in section 7 of the Travancore Land Acquisition Act (XI of 1089). The absence of such an order is pleaded in paragraph 8 of the plaint and this averment is not denied by the State in the written statement. Such an order was not produced by the State either. In these circumstances it must be held that there is no such order. The absence of an order u/s 7 invalidates all steps taken by the Collector after the Government made the declaration u/s 6.

In view of the above conclusion, the steps taken by the Collector of Trivandrum have to be quashed and we order accordingly. We are not expressing any opinion on the question whether acquisition for the purpose of providing residential accommodation for the Priests of the Sri Padmanabhaswami Temple would amount to a public purpose. It will be open for the plaintiff to raise the question afresh if and when further steps are taken for acquisition of the land. In the result, we allow the appeal, set aside the decree of the court below and allow the suit as prayed for. This judgment will not be a bar to the State taking steps u/s 7 hereafter. The appellant will get his costs from the State here and in the court below.