In Brief
The Supreme Court quashed land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Karnataka State Government to acquire agricultural lands in favour of Trinity House Building Co-Operative Society. The Court held that the acquisition violated Section 3(f)(vi) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as the Society had not framed a Housing Scheme with prior Government approval—a mandatory condition precedent. The Court found the Society had engaged a middleman (estate agent) to facilitate acquisition for a large fee, making the agreement opposed to public policy. Sale transactions executed by the middleman during pendency of litigation were declared void ab initio as fraudulent. The Court restored the original High Court judgment quashing the notifications and returned lands to original agriculturist owners.
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