N N VERMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two W.P. are filed by Shri N.N. Verma, the coloniser of Shyama Prasad Mukerjee Park Colony and the the Association of the plot holders of the colony. They have challenged the decision of the respondents not to release 12.58 acres from land acquisition and have prayed for a restraint order against the respondents for interfering with their possession. According to them the layout plan for the colony measuring 32.58 acres in the village Tatarpur and Chaukhandi, Delhi, was sanctioned by Delhi Development Provisional Authority, the predecessor of the D.D.A. They claim that in the sanctioned plan, the disputed 12.58 acres of land was earmarked for commercial purposes such as cinema theatre, petrol pump and shops. Submission of the petitioners is that the said land measuring 12.58 acres was relased from acquisition alongwith land of 20 other colonies) by the decision of the Govt. of India announced in the Parliament by Shri Karmarkar, the then Minister on 10.3.1960. But inspite of the said decision the respondents are not releasing the land CW Ps 2174, misinterpreting the said decision of the Govt. of India to mean that only the land for residential purposes (as against commercial) was intended to be relea- sed from the land acquisition. Through C.M. 3858 of 1982, the petitioners have further prayed that the acquisition proceeding in relation to said 12 58 acres be quashed. They have also prayed for a direction to correct the figure of '20' acres mentioned in the Delhi Admm. Gazette Noti. of 1.7.1960 and to substitute the same by "1,54,500 sq. yards" and a declaration that the possession of the said disputed land taken by the DDA is illegal.

(2.) . Land measuring 32.58 acres in the village Tatarpur and Chaukhandi, Delhi, was purchased by N.N. Verma in 1953 as a sole proprietor of M/s. Delhi Land and Dev. Corn. for development of a colony. In 1955, the Central Govt. issued an Ordinance called Dalhi (Control of Building Operations) Ordinance (which later on became an Act) and established Delhi Dev. Provisional Authority for planned development of Delhi. N.N. Verma submitted a layout plan for the colony named as Shyama Pd. Mukherjee Park to the said Authority who sanctioned it in 1957. The resolution of the Authority sanctioning the layout plan mentioned area of the colony as 20 acres. According to the petitioners, this was a mistake. The land comes to 32.58 acres.

(3.) . In 1959, the then Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities to freeze large tracts of lands around Delhi to control speculation in lands sales. On the instructions of the Central Government, the Delhi Adm. issued notification u/s 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on 13th Nov. 1959, for acquisition of over 34000 acres of land, including the land of the petitioners. But the Govt. had to face a problem. Layout plans for number of colonies were already sanctioned by the DDA and the other local authorities and the Govt. did not intend to acquire the said lands. Therefore, the colonies in regard to which definite particulars were immediately available, were, excluded from acquisition. It was also decided by the Central Govt. that the lands of the colonies whose layout plans were sanctioned, and the information in regard to which was being collected, should be released from acquisition afterwards.