LALITA DEVELOPERS Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the learned counsel for the parties.

(2.) The dispute that arises for resolution in this writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is the entitlement of the petitioner to the compensation towards acquisition of the petitioner's land.

(3.) Undisputed facts giving rise to the present proceedings are that the petitioner, a proprietorship firm, claims ownership of land bearing Khasra Numbers 11/3 and 11/4 in Sheet Number 8 to the extent of 1 Hectare 23 R or 11883 Square Meters at Mouza Bhandewadi, Pardi Road, Nagpur. The said land was earmarked partially for market, for park and for a twelve meter road in the development plan of the city of Nagpur. The petitioner claims to have acquired interest in about 52 plots from the recorded owner of the said property - Swaraj Ekta Cooperative Housing Society pursuant to the registered document dtd. 5/7/2011. Public Interest Litigation No. 50 of 2012 was initiated in this Court raising the issue of shifting of Pardi Bazar situated at Bhandara Road to a place that was reserved for the markets. The petitioner filed Civil Application (O) No. 517 of 2015 for intervention in the said proceedings and expressed its willingness to voluntarily surrender the land admeasuring 11883 Square Meters in lieu of Transferable Development Rights (for short, 'the TDR'). The initial application in that regard moved by the petitioner was dtd. 13/8/2015 followed by other applications. In the said proceedings, the Division Bench on 12/2/2016 passed an order recording the fact that the petitioner was willing to accept the TDR under Government Resolution dtd. 28/1/2016 for the aforesaid land. Accordingly, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (for short, 'the NMC') was directed to accept the petitioner's proposal for grant of the TDR in accordance with the Government Resolution dtd. 28/1/2016. Necessary steps were to be undertaken within a period of four weeks from the date of the order. It was further directed that after vesting of the said land in the NMC it could proceed further to construct the said market either through its own funds or on Build, Operate and Transfer - BOT basis. Pursuant to the aforesaid order there was exchange of communications between the petitioner and the NMC. Ultimately on 6/1/2017 the petitioner moved an application for grant of TDR in accordance with the Government Resolution dtd. 28/1/2016. The petitioner handed over possession of land admeasuring 11883 Square Meters to the NMC on 31/12/2018 and it was issued a possession receipt in that regard. In the matter of compensating the petitioner in lieu of the aforesaid land, the General Body of the NMC on 29/1/2019 passed Resolution Number 3421 by which it was proposed to seek funds from the State Government so as to compensate the petitioner for the aforesaid land. Based on the aforesaid resolution, the NMC made a request to the State Government to release the funds as indicated in its resolution. Since nothing further happened in the matter, the present writ petition was filed on 18/10/2019 praying that the NMC be directed to assess the market value of the entire land and pay compensation to the petitioner towards acquisition of the said land.