Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (Disposal of Land) Regulations 1977:
Disposal of land under the Regulations – Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority passed Resolution dated 7.6.1997 for allotting land – To the proposed Co-operative Housing Society of its employees – The Co-operative Society requested the Authority to alter the terms and conditions of the Resolution – Request was not heeded to – State Government issued Resolution dated 09.07.1999 pertaining to allotment of Govt. land for Housing Society with various terms and conditions – The Authority by its Resolution dated 01.09.2003 decided to allot the land to the Society as per the terms and conditions dated 09.07.1999 – The Authority allotted the land to the Society on 01.09.2003 – Letter of intent was issued on 11.12.2003 – It excluded the noneligible members (including names of appellants) on the ground that they were not in service on the date of Letter of Intent – Writ petition by the appellants – Dismissed by High Court holding that the appellants had been rightly held ineligible being not in service on the date of allotment as the allotment was made on the basis of fresh proposal – On appeal, held: Earlier allotment dated 07.06.1997 had lapsed due to non-fulfillment of the terms and conditions – Allotment dated 01.09.2003 was a fresh allotment pursuant to Resolution dated 09.07.1999 – Therefore, eligibility has not to be seen as per Resolution dated 07.06.1997 – The eligibility of the members has to be seen as on 11.12.2003 i.e. when the letter of intent was issued - The appellants have been rightly held ineligible.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1. From the sequence of events in the present case, it is clear that the allotment dated 01.09.2003 was a fresh allotment of land on a higher premium that is Rs.2500/- per sqr. mtr. Earlier allotment dated 07.06.1997 had lapsed due to non-fulfilment of the conditions as required by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (Disposal of Land) Regulations, 1977. Thus, the allotment dated 01.09.2003 was on the basis of the fresh proposal relying on the Government of Maharashtra Resolution dated 09.07.1999. High Court is right in its conclusion that allotment dated 01.09.2003 was on the basis of fresh proposal of the Society and same has no nexus with respect to Resolution dated 07.06.1997. [Para 16] [419-B-C]
2. The fresh allotment was made on 01.09.2003 in pursuance of which Letter of Intent was issued on 11.12.2003, thus, the eligibility has to be seen as per condition of the Government Resolution dated 09.07.1999. On the strength of Resolution dated 01.09.2003 in so far as it modifies the rate of premium per sq.mtr., it cannot be said that the same allotment which was made on 07.06.1997 has been continued on 01.09.2003 and the eligibility of members has to be pegged on the date of Resolution dated 07.06.1997 or 05.11.1998 i.e. issue of Letter of Intent. [Para 19] [420-A-B]
3. The plea that eligibility with regard to being in service has to be seen on the date 07.06.1997 or 05.11.1998, thus, cannot be accepted. The Society itself has given approval vide its communication dated 10.05.2001 to consider the allotment to the Society in its forthcoming meeting on 17.05.2001 on the basis of Government of Maharashtra Resolution dated 09.07.1999. It is thus clear that the Society itself has requested for a fresh consideration and fresh Resolution on the basis of the eligibility laid down by Resolution 09.07.1999. [Para 20] [420-C-D]
4. Thus, the Society was conscious of the fact that eligibility of members has to be seen as on 11.12.2003 that is the date on which Letter of Intent was issued in pursuance of allotment. The Society having accepted the aforesaid clause of eligibility and accepted the offer of allotment as given by the Authority, the eligibility as on 11.12.2003 cannot be permitted to be questioned. [Para 21] [420-G]
5. The Authority has proposed allotment of 13,700 sq.mtr of land which is apparent from its Resolution dated 01.09.2003 as well as letter dated 11.12.2003. After scrutinising the list of eligibility, ultimately, the allotment was made only for land admeasuring 10,700 sq.mtr. by letter dated 09.12.2005. The Authority had not taken into consideration the area for non-eligible members while finalising the list and due to the aforesaid reasons the area allotted to the Society has been reduced from 13,700 sq.mtr. to 10,700 sq.mtr. There is no infirmity in the judgment of the High Court. [Paras 22 and 23] [420-H; 421-A-C]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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