MANJUL SRIVASTAVA Vs. GOVT OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals at the instance of Mrs. Manjul Srivastava (appellant herein) have been filed against the orders dated 9th of May, 2001 and 7th of December, 2001 passed by the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, New Delhi (in short "the Commission") in C.A. No. 154 of 1998 and R.A. No. 37 of 2001, which also arose out of C.A. No. 154 of 1998, whereby the Commission had held that the Ghaziabad Development Authority (in short "the GDA") had not resorted to any "unfair trade practice" inasmuch as the appellant was unsuccessful in the draw for allotment of a plot in Govindpuram area of District Ghaziabad in the State of Uttar Pradesh and, therefore, she could not be termed as an "allottee" of the residential plot in that area.

(2.) The facts leading to the filing of these appeals, as emerged from the complaint filed by the appellant before the Commission, may be narrated in a nutshell as under :- The dispute in these appeals pertains to allotment of a certain plot of land by the GDA in its Govindpuram Housing Scheme of the year 1988. The appellant applied for allotment of a residential plot pursuant to an advertisement of the GDA after depositing registration fees for an amount of Rs. 7210/- on 10th of February, 1989. The GDA issued a Reservation Letter to the appellant reserving plot Category - D in her name and further requiring her to deposit the entire balance amount of Rs. 62,240/-towards the estimated cost. In the Reservation Letter, it was stipulated that if the payment was not made within three months after it was due along with penal interest, if any, the allotment would be treated as cancelled without notice. It was further stipulated that the possession of the plot would be given in 1991 and that the draw for specific plot number would be held separately. On 5th of April, 1989, the appellant deposited the entire balance amount of Rs. 62,240/- with the GDA but she was not put in possession of any plot whatsoever.

(3.) After the lapse of almost nine years, more particularly on 1st of October, 1997, the appellant received a Registered Letter from the GDA informing her that she had not been allotted a plot in the Scheme and that the amount deposited by her with the GDA would be refunded with 5% interest. However, no reason for not giving possession of the plot, already reserved in the name of the appellant, was given.