Kolkata, Sept. 13 -- The Calcutta High Court has quashed the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority's (KMDA) cancellation of about six acres of industrial land at Nonadanga, holding that its 2007 land allotment policy could not be applied to an earlier allotment.
A division bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Sandip Kumar De held that the petitioners were not responsible for the delay in starting the proposed industrial project. The delay resulted from KMDA's failure to execute and register the lease deed, without which the petitioners could not obtain mutation and a sanctioned building plan.
The plot, IND-8/1 at Mouza Nonadanga, was allotted in January 2002 for Rs 8.75 crore. The petitioners paid the premium in full, and KMDA handed over possession. The allotment was on a 99-year leasehold basis.
KMDA granted a final extension in February 2007 for submission of the Detailed Project Report and building plan. The petitioners submitted the DPR on March 21, 2007, but continued seeking execution and registration of the lease.
KMDA cancelled the allotment on December 14, 2007, relying on its land and plot allotment policy approved on August 21 that year. The policy required construction to begin within two years of allotment, with limited scope for extension.
The bench held the policy was prospective and applied to allotments "henceforth".
"The rules of the game cannot be changed when the game is on," it said, holding that a further condition imposed after the original contract had been acted upon was unlawful.
The court also held KMDA was duty-bound to execute and register the lease and had acted with "complete non-application of mind" and "arbitrary and mala fide intent" in hindering the industrial project. It set aside the cancellation and directed KMDA and its officers and agents not to dispossess the petitioners or give further effect to the December 14, 2007 cancellation. The appeal was allowed without costs.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.