STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. JITSINH BHIKHABHAI RANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State of Gujarat has filed this Special Civil Application against the order dated 19th February 1992 passed by the Urban Land Tribunal and Secretary to Government whereby the appeal of the respondent under Section 33 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act 1976 (the Act for short) was allowed and the order passed by the Competent Authority had been set aside.

(2.) The respondent Jitsinh Bhikhabhai Rana filed the declaration in Form No. 1 under Section 6 of the Act declaring the total holding of the land to be 16163 sq. mtrs. with the break-up as under:

(3.) On behalf of the respondent Mr. M.I. Hawa learned Counsel has submitted that this Special Civil Application under Articles 226 and 227 deserves to be dismissed on the ground of inordinate and unexplained delay and laches and also on the ground that the petitioner has concealed and suppressed material facts and has rather made false averments in the body of the petition. Mr. Hawa learned Counsel has pointed out that as per the petitioners own say in the body of the petition in paragraph 6 the Tribunals order dated 19th February 1992 was received by the office of the Competent Authority somewhere in December 1992 and thereafter the Department made a proposal to the Legal Department for filing the Special Civil Application vide letter dated 22nd December 1992 and the Legal Department accorded sanction for filing the Special Civil Application on 25th January 1993 and directed the office of the Government Pleader to file the same on 10th February 1993 the Department collected the papers including the Notifications and other orders from various Departments and forwarded the same to the office of the Government Pleader on 11 May 1993. Mr. Hawa learned Counsel for the respondent has submitted that although there is no justification for the delay from February 1992 to May 1993 there is no explanation whatsoever for the period i.e. after 11th May 1993 until 18th June 1994 and it also appears that the Special Civil Application had been typed in the year 1993 and the date on page 8 of the Special Civil Application has been corrected so as to make the year 1994 from 1993 and although the date has been corrected as 20th May 1994 on page 8 of the Special Civil Application and the affidavit which has been filed in support thereof bears the date corrected as 20th May 1994 the Special Civil Application was filed in the Court on 18th June 1994 Mr. Hawa learned Counsel has placed reliance on an order of the Single Judge passed by this Court in Special Civil Application 3200 of 1994 decided on 21st October 1994 and yet another order passed in Special Civil Application No. 4727 of 1984 decided on 28th February 1994. He has also placed reliance on AIR 1987 SC 251; State of MP & Ors. vs. Nandlal Jaiswal & Ors. para 23 thereof and 1994 XXXV (2) GLR 1564 Dilavarsinh Khodubha jadeja vs. State of Gujarat & Ors. He has also submitted that in paragraph 2 of the Special Civil Application a deliberate false statement has been made to the effect that the appeal was not accompanied by the application for condonation of delay whereas the fact is that the delay has been condoned by the Tribunal after notice of application for condonation of delay to the Competent Authority through whom the present Special Civil Application has been filed and therefore this statement was false to the knowledge of the petitioner and therefore the Special Civil Application deserves to be dismissed on this ground alone.