SMT. SHEELA RAMCHANDRA TIKHE Vs. NAGPUR IMPROVEMENT TRUST

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant-plaintiff was the owner of the lands Khasra No.9/1 admeasuring 29.26 acres, Khasra No.9/2 admeasuring 7 acres, and Khasra No.11 admeasuring 8.35 acres. Thus, the total area was of 44.61 acres. The respondent-defendant is the local authority, constituted under the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936, which issued a notification under Section 39 of the said Act for acquiring the entire 44.61 acres of land for the purposes of Drainage and Sewerage Scheme Part-II on 27-11-1953. The matter was compromised and the appellant-plaintiff accepted the compensation of Rs.23,500/-. Accordingly, an award was passed on 31-12-1962. The compensation was paid and the possession was taken over by the defendant-Nagpur Improvement Trust ("NIT"). Thus, it is an undisputed factual position that by virtue of such acquisition, the entire land admeasuring 44.61 acres vested in the NIT and it became absolute owner of it free from all encumbrances, with a right to dispose it of in accordance with law.

(2.) It seems that the NIT found that the lands acquired by it under the various schemes became surplus and hence a policy decision was taken by the Board Resolution dated 3-5-1968 at Exhibit 113 on record for disposal of the land to the owners on lease by charging the determined premium and the ground rent. The NIT accordingly invited applications from the owners of the land for re-allotment on lease. The appellant-plaintiff filed such application dated 3-9-1975 for re-allotment of the entire 44.61 acres of land on lease on the basis of the terms and conditions mentioned in the Board Resolution at Exhibit 113. The NIT considered all these applications and passed a resolution on 6-10-1975 at Exhibit 106 to re-allot the entire land of 44.61 acres to the appellant-plaintiff on the terms and conditions stipulated therein in accordance with the Board Resolution at Exhibit 113. This decision was communicated to the appellant-plaintiff by the communication dated 16-10-1975, marked as Exhibit 57, determining the total premium of Rs.35,250/- for re-allotment of 44.61 acres of land.

(3.) It seems that the appellant-plaintiff made certain representation to the NIT for reducing the amount of premium and expressed a clear intention in the communication dated 18-12-1976 at Exhibit C-71 to deposit the amount of first installment of Rs.3,525/-. This was also reiterated in the communication dated 2-3-1982 at Exhibit C-75. In response to the communication at Exhibit C-75, the NIT informed the appellant-plaintiff vide its communication dated 9-6-1982 at Exhibit 59 that the request of the appellant-plaintiff for allotment of the land measuring about 24 acres out of 44.61 acres has been considered, and hence for allotment of 24 acres of land, the revised premium would be Rs.19,230/-, out of which, the first installment of 10% will have to be paid immediately. Thereafter, on 9-2-1989, a lease agreement at Exhibit 64 in respect of 24 acres of land was executed between the NIT and the appellant-plaintiff on the basis of the communication dated 6-11-1982 at Exhibit 61 issued by the NIT. The possession of 24 acres of land was also handed over to the appellant-plaintiff on 26-11-1982. The lease commenced from 11-11-1982 and it was for a period of 30 years ending on 31-3-2013.