YAGNA MOORTHI Vs. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has submitted that he is the owner of the property which is situated at Survey No.672/Part in Velachery Village, Chennai. The same has been purchased by sale deed from one Thiru.P.L.Ramanathan Chettiar through his power agent Thiru.D.Subramaniam. The petitioner acquired right, title and interest over the said property and having been continuously in possession for more than 12 years. Thereafter, for the sake of obtaining patta and including his name in the Permanent Land Survey Register Extract so as to include in the Township Survey Register, he approached the authorities concerned viz., the respondents herein, more particularly, the second respondent herein to include his name in the Town Survey Register by issuing new patta along with sketch. The respondents who are very much aware of the fact that the urban lands covered under the Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulations) Act 1978 which came into force during 1978 has lost its legal efficacy during the year 1999 on account of passing of the Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act 1999 by virtue of which under Section 4 of the Act all the lands which are under proceedings under the said Act became free hold land much less all the proceedings pending before the Courts, Tribunal or other authority stands abated but to the exception of lands possessed by the Government in which case if the State Government had taken possession of the lands, the same gets saved by virtue of Section 3(1)(a) of the said Act is declining / refusing to include his name in the Town Survey Register as the first and second respondent erroneously were under the impression that his land is being attracted by the Urban Land Ceiling Act.

(2.) The petitioner has further submitted that the respondents who are very much aware of the further fact that his land is not falling within Section 3(1)(a) of th Act vis-a-vis have not taken possession by the appropriate authority viz., the first respondent or is subjected to any sort of Urban Land Acquisition under the Urban Land Ceiling Act is declining to allow his land the details to be entered in the records of Town Survey Register as well as the permanent land survey register and to issue patta. In the instant case, the petitioner is the title holder and he is in absolute physical possession of the aforesaid subject property coupled with the fact that the Repeal Act, 1999 preserves not only his title to the property by virtue of himself being in possession of the same but also forbids the authority to project the Urban Land Ceiling Act as reason for not introducing the urban lands in the Town Survey Register by including the same in the Permanent Land Register Record (PLR Record) and issue patta in his favour.

(3.) The petitioner has submitted that the proposition laid in Pandit Madhan Swaroop Shortiya Public Charitable Trust Vs. State of Uttarpradesh and others, 2000 AIR(SC) 3415 and the proposition laid down by the Hon'ble apex Court in Supreme Court - in Angoori Devi Vs. State of Uttarpradesh, 2000 Supp1 JT 295 holds that with the coming into force of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999, the authorities functioning under the erstwhile Principal Act could have no jurisdiction to initiate proceedings of any nature whatsoever. The only exception culled out are those cases where physical possession of the lands having been resumed by the Government prior to coming into force of the Repeal Act, 1999, viz., the deadline in prior to 16.06.1999. The aforesaid proposition having been followed by this Court in 2002(2) CTC 716, 2003 WLR 193 and 2003 WLR 166. Under these circumstances, the petitioner preferred the petition in W.P.No.32876 of 2007 for issuance of Writ of Declaration to declare that the petitioner's land comprised in S.No.672 part of Velachery Village, Chennai admeasuring 2 grounds and 582 sq.ft. does not attract the provisions of Tamil Nadu Urban Land Ceiling Act, 1978 or Section 3(1)(a) of the Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999.