Kolkata, Aug. 28 -- Prolonged occupation of Railway premises cannot by itself confer a right to remain in possession after expiry of a licence, the Calcutta High Court has held while rejecting shopkeepers' plea for restoration of shops at Tollygunge Metro Railway Station.
The court, however, directed recalculation of their occupational charges at Rs 10,000 per square metre per year instead of the square-foot basis mentioned in a 2007 interim order.
Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee was hearing three writ petitions concerning shops allotted under licence agreements executed in 1993-94. The licences, subsequently renewed, expired on March 31, 2005. The shopkeepers' plea for long-term licences was rejected, following which eviction proceedings were initiated under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
The petitioners disputed the occupational charges, contending that "square foot" in the 2007 interim order was a typographical error and that charges had been assessed on a square-metre basis by the Railway authorities.
After examining the records, the court accepted that the expression "Rs 10,000 per square foot per year" required modification. It ordered the rate to be treated as Rs 10,000 per square metre per year, with the charges to be recalculated from May 1, 2005, after giving credit for all payments already made.
The court rejected restoration of the shops, holding that the petitioners had no indefeasible right to remain in occupation merely because they had carried on business there for several years. Their licences had expired and their plea for long-term licences had also been rejected.
The petitioners have four weeks to prefer appeals under Section 9 of the 1971 Act against the Estate Officer's orders and consequential demands. The appeals should not be rejected merely on the ground of delay, subject to statutory requirements and a satisfactory explanation for the delay.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.