RIYAZ ISMAIL MACHHIWALA Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Respondents waive service. With the consent of parties, rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally.

(2.) By the above Writ Petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Petitioners inter alia seek an order to direct Respondent No.2 to refund an amount of Rs.2,66,75,750.00, which, according to the Petitioner, is illegally exacted from it for obtaining a No Objection Certificate for development/sale of their land bearing Survey No.429/1/2 and CTS No.1069-A/ A-1 and 1069-A/B/1, aggregating to 4163 square meters, of Village Malad, Taluka Borivali, (for short "the entire land").

(3.) It is the case of the Petitioners that after the repeal of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (for short "the ULC Act"), in a decision of the Full Bench of this Court in Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, Mumbai and Ors. v/s. The State of Maharashtra and Anr. [2014 (6) Mh.L.J. 829], it was held that the exemption granted under Sec. 20 of the ULC Act did not abate on repeal of the said Act. Being aggrieved by this decision of the Full Bench, some of the parties approached the Hon'ble Supreme Court. At the time when the SLP was pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the State Government constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice B. N. Shrikrishna (Retired), who recommended that the issue of exemption orders under Sec. 20 of the ULC Act should be closed by accepting certain payments. This recommendation was made in a Report dtd. 9/8/2018. Accordingly, the learned Additional Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of the State of Maharashtra, made a statement before the Hon'ble Supreme Court that the State was prepared to implement the recommendations made in the said Report of Justice B. N. Shrikrishna and suggested that the SLP/Appeal can be disposed of by permitting the State of Maharashtra to prepare a scheme for implementation of the recommendations made in the said Report. This suggestion was acceptable to the Appellants [before the Supreme Court] and therefore, on this basis, the SLP/Appeal filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court was disposed of by an Order dtd. 2/7/2019.