Public Property – Occupied by the respondent for over three decades despite defaults in making the balance payment therefor – Long-drawn litigation – High Court directed the sale deed of the plot to be executed in favour of the respondent on payment of Rs.3 crore in three monthly instalments despite noting that the market value of the property was around Rs.4.86 crore – Interference with:
Held: Respondent has been in occupation of the plot for over three decades having paid only Rs.1,97,031/- (Rs.1,19,731/- given as initial deposit and Rs.77,300/- later on) despite he having offered the bid of Rs.4,78,921/- in 1986 – He has been utterly lackadaisical while dealing with the appellant-Board, the High Court as well as this Court – Respondent was given sufficient indulgence by the High Court to make the balance payment for the Plot however, he did not avail of the opportunity so granted and has shown continued apathy and indifference with regard to compliance of judicial orders requiring payment to be made – Notwithstanding non-compliance of this Court’s order dtd.19.05.2025, the right of the respondent to make payment now stands conclusively closed even in terms of the impugned judgment – The Board, being the custodian of public property, holds it in trust for the public and is under a duty to take decisions regarding it which serves the broader public interest best – Indulgences granted to the respondent resulted in loss of revenue to the public exchequer on account of inflation in market value of the property from 1986 till date – Respondent to vacate the Plot and deliver possession of the Plot to the Board. [Paras 28, 29, 32, 33]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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