JALAN INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS Vs. KOLKATA METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a writ petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India which challenges a demand of Rs.6,69,67,987/- imposed by the respondent no. 1 on the petitioner, its lessee, which is Annexure P/18 to the writ petition. An interim order was passed by a coordinate bench after hearing both the sides, admitting the writ petition, staying its operation during the pendency of the writ petition, of course on condition that the writ petitioner did not create third party interest, without the leave of this Court. Affidavits are now complete and the matter came up before me for hearing.

(2.) It is the case of the writ petitioner that in the event that it could commence construction of a building on the leasehold within two years from the date of execution of the lease deed, the respondents had a jurisdiction to impose any condition of payment of penal charges as a condition for extension of the time to commence construction, but under the deed of lease it had no right to demand penal charges for delayed completion of the construction when construction had commenced within the said period. It therefore challenges an act wholly without jurisdiction, which it submits is not saved merely because it was in the contractual field of a lease.

(3.) The respondents on the other hand contend that the deed of lease was admittedly not exhaustive and its terms and conditions could not be read alone or in isolation from the terms and conditions of the letter of acceptance of the respondent no. 1 which was in the nature of a letter of allotment, and they two have to be read together. This is the stand taken by the respondents in their affidavit-in-opposition and is also the basis of the demand as in Annexure P/18.