Full Judgment Text
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CASE NO.:
Appeal (civil) 7348 of 2001
PETITIONER:
GOVT. OF A.P. AND ORS.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
J.SRIDEVI AND ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 12/04/2002
BENCH:
Y.K. Sabharwal & K.G. Balakrishnan
JUDGMENT:
K.G. Balakrishnan, J.
This appeal is preferred by the State of Andhra Pradesh challenging the
Judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Writ
Appeal No. 968 of 1998. By the impugned Judgment of the Division Bench, the
Judgment of the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition no. 5929/97 was
confirmed. The Writ Petition was filed by the respondents praying that the lands
owned by the respondents were outside the purview of the Urban Land (Ceiling
and Regulation) Act, 1976 (hereinafter being referred as "UL(C&R) Act") and that
the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (hereinafter being referred as
"HUDA") be directed to sanction the lay-out and group housing scheme
submitted by the respondents, without insisting for clearance certificate from the
competent authority under the UL(C&R) Act. The Writ Petition was allowed and
the State unsuccessfully challenged the judgment therein, in the Writ Appeal.
The respondents herein purchased an extent of 10 guntas of land each in
Survey no. 79 of Madapur village by separate registered sale deeds in the year
1995. These lands originally belonged to one Agaiah Dhanger and his family
who owned 96 acres of land in Survey No. 79 of Madapur village. The original
land owner Agaiah Dhanger was served with a notice under Section 6(2) of the
Act alleging that the land owned by him came within the purview of the UL(C&R)
Act. He did not respond to the notice by filing a statement in Form-1, as
contemplated under Section 6(1) of the UL(C&R) Act. It seems that the original
landlord thereafter sold these properties to the respondents herein. The land
was originally classified as agricultural land and the respondents after purchasing
the property filed application for converting the same for residential purpose and
the Government by G.O.Ms. No. 467 M.A. dated 3.9.1996 granted permission to
convert the same for residential purposes by collecting the requisite fee towards
development charges. The respondents thereafter filed application before the
HUDA for sanction of lay-out. HUDA as well as the District Registrar insisted for
clearance certificate from the Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority under the
UL(C&R) Act, but the respondents alleged that individually they were owning
1000 square meters and even if it comes under the purview of the UL(C&R) Act,
it is within the prescribed ceiling limit. The respondents approached the Special
Officer-cum-Competent Authority, but no clearance certificate was issued by the
Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority and thereafter they filed the Writ
Petition.
The lands in Survey No. 79 including other Sy. Nos. covering an extent of
96 acres in Madapur village formed part of Moosapet Gram Panchayat. It is
contended by the appellants that village Madapur formed part of Moosapet Gram
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Panchayat which is included in Col. 2 of Schedule-I of UL(C&R) Act, 1976 and
according to Section 2(n) at Para (A) [I] of the UL(C&R) Act, it formed part of the
Urban Agglomeration specified in Col. 2 of Schedule-I of the UL(C&R) Act and
the appellants contended that as the land was included within the Urban
Agglomeration, any transaction without clearance as required under Section
5(3) read with Section 28(a) of the UL(C&R) Act was invalid. The respondents,
on the other hand, contended before the learned Single Judge that at the time of
purchase, the land in question was an agricultural land and on the date of
purchase effected by the respondents, there was no legal restriction for the
transfer of agricultural land situated in the peripheral area. According to the
respondents, the land in question was neither an urban land nor a vacant land
and the provisions of the UL (C&R) Act, 1976 do not apply. The contention of the
respondents was that on the appointed day, i.e., 28.1.1976, the lands held by the
vendors were agricultural lands and it was not covered by any master plan and
the extension of the master plan by way of amendment to a particular area which
was not included when the UL (C&R) Act came into force, cannot alter the
original nature of the land. The contention of the respondents was that the
master plan which was amended on 26.8.1995 had no application and the same
cannot be used for the purpose for determining whether the land in question is
coming within the purview of UL(C&R) Act or not. The respondents had also
contended that pursuant to the request made by them after paying the requisite
fee, the lands were converted into residential zone as per G.O.Ms. No. 467 dated
3.9.1996 and only on that date the land became urban land coming within the
purview of the UL(C&R) Act and as these respondents were individually holding
about 1000 square meters, it is within the ceiling limit prescribed under the Act.
The Urban Land & Ceiling Regulation Act, 1976 came into force in the
State of Andhra Pradesh on 17.2.1976. Section 2(h) of the UL (C&R) Act deals
with the "master plan" in relation to the area within Urban Agglomeration.
Section 2(h) defines ’master plan’ as follows:-
" ’Master plan’ in relation to an area within an urban agglomeration
or any part thereof, means the plan (by whatever name called)
prepared under any law for the time being in force or in pursuance
of an order made by the State Government for the development of
such area or part thereof and providing for the stages by which
such development shall be carried out; "
Section 2(n) defines Urban agglomeration as:
"urban agglomeration" ---
(A) in relation to any State or Union territory specified in Col. (1) of
Schedule I, means,---
(i) the urban agglomeration specified in the
corresponding entry in Col.(2) thereof and includes
the peripheral area specified in the corresponding
entry in Col. (3) thereof; and
(ii) any other area which the State Government may, with
the previous approval of the Central Government,
having regard to its location, population (population
being more than one lakh) and such other relevant
factors as the circumstances of the case may require,
by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be an
urban agglomeration and any agglomeration so
declared shall be deemed to belong to category D in
that Schedule and the peripheral area therefor shall
be one kilometer;
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(B) in relation to any other State or Union territory, means any area
which the State Government may, with the previous approval of
the Central Government, having regard to its location,
population (population being more than one lakh) and such
other relevant factors as the circumstances of the case may
require, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be an
urban agglomeration and any agglomeration so declared shall
be deemed to belong to category D in Sch. I and peripheral
area therefor shall be one kilometer."
Under Section 2(o) "Urban Land" means:
(i) any land situated within the limits of an urban agglomeration
and referred to as such in the master plan; or
(ii) in a case where there is no master plan, or where the master
plan does not refer to any land as urban land, any land
within the limits of an urban agglomeration and situated in
any area included within the local limits of a municipality (by
whatever name called) a notified area committee, a town
area committee, a city and town committee, a small town
committee, a cantonment board or a panchayat.
but does not include any such land which is mainly used for the
purpose of agriculture.
Explanation:- For the purpose of this clause and Cl. (q), -
(A) "agriculture" includes horticulture; but does not include---,
(i) raising of grass,
(ii) dairy farming
(iii) poultry farming
(iv) breeding of live-stock, and
(v) such cultivation, or the growing of such plant, as may
be prescribed;
(B) land shall not be deemed to be used mainly for the purpose
of agriculture, if such land is not entered in the revenue or
land records before the appointed day as for the purpose of
agriculture;
Provided that where on any land which is entered in
the revenue or land records before the appointed day as for
the purpose of agriculture there is a building which is not in
the nature of a farm-house then, so much of the extent of
such land as is occupied by the building shall not be deemed
to be used mainly for the purpose of agriculture;
Provided further that if any question arises whether
any building is in the nature of a farm-house such question
shall be referred to the State Government and the decision
of the State Government thereon shall be final;
(C) notwithstanding anything contained in clause (B) of this
Explanation land shall not be deemed to be mainly used for
the purpose of agriculture if the land has been specified in
the master plan for a purpose other than agriculture."
According to the appellants, in the master plan, the land involved herein is
brought under the Urban Agglomeration. Therefore, the question arises whether
the property included in the Urban Agglomeration could be treated as urban land
or continues to be an agricultural land. On the date of commencement of the
Act, i.e. on 17.2.1976, the land was agricultural land. It is possible to contend
that at that time the UL(C&R) Act had no application to these lands. The
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question that came up for decision before the learned Single Judge was whether
by the inclusion of this land in the Urban Agglomeration under the master plan,
the property would still continue to be excluded from the purview of the
UL(C&R), Act 1976. The learned Single Judge relied on the decision of this
Court in Atia Mohammadi Begum (Smt.) vs. State of U.P. and Others
(1993) 2 SCC 546 wherein this Court had held that the area of vacant land in
excess of the ceiling limit under the Act is to be determined with reference to the
date of commencement of the Act and the right and liability of the holder of the
land for this purpose under the Act crystallizes on the date of commencement of
the Act unaffected by any subsequent events. The scheme of the Act supports
the construction that the aforesaid Explanation (C) means that if the land has
been specified in the master plan existing at the time of commencement of the
Act for a purpose other than agriculture, then the land shall not be deemed to be
mainly used for the purpose of agriculture by virtue of the Explanation and not if
the land is specified in a master plan prepared after the commencement of the
Act.
Based on the above decision, the learned Single Judge held that the
respondents purchased lands which are situated outside the master plan in
force on the appointed day, and as such, the provisions of the UL(C&R) Act will
not be attracted on such lands. This view was upheld by the Division Bench. It
may be noted that the view held in Atia Mohammadi Begum (Smt.) case(supra)
was partly overruled by this Court in State of A.P. & Ors. vs. N. Audikesava
Reddy and Others (2002) 1 SCC 227 to which one of us (Sabharwal, J.) is a
party. It was held that the master plan prepared as per law in force even
subsequent to enforcement of the Act is to be taken into consideration to
determine whether a particular piece of land is vacant land or not and, to this
extent, the decision in Atia Begum case (supra) was partly overruled. The
explanation appended to Section 6(1) of the Act regarding "commencement of
the Act" was taken note of by this Court and it was held in Para 13 at page 233-
234 as follows:-
"Further, the Explanation to Section 6(1), as noticed above,
very significantly provides that every person holding vacant land in
excess of the ceiling limit at the commencement of the Act shall file
a statement before the competent authority and "the
commencement of the Act" under clause (ii) would be when the
land becomes vacant for any reason whatsoever. Therefore, the
date of commencement of the Act in a case where the land, which
was not vacant earlier, would be the date on which such land
becomes vacant land. It, thus, contemplates a situation of land, not
being vacant, becoming vacant due to preparation of a master plan
subsequent to 17-2-1976. Further, the provisions of the Act require
filing of a statement under Sections 6,7, 15 and 16 from time to
time as and when land acquires the character of a vacant land.
Obligation to file statement under the Act arises when a person
comes to hold any vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit, which
date necessarily may not be 17-2-1976. It would all depend on the
facts and circumstances of each case."
In that view of the matter, we feel that the Division Bench was not justified
in declaring that the lands owned by these respondents were outside the purview
of the provisions of the UL(C&R) Act and also further directing HUDA to
sanction forthwith the lay-out and the group housing scheme submitted by the
respondents.
It may be noted that these respondents submitted application before the
Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority alleging that they were holding land to
the extent of 1000 square meters and it is outside the purview of the UL(C&R)
Act and that they may be given a certificate to that effect. These applications
were not finally considered and disposed of by the Special Officer-cum-
Competent Authority. Though the respondents contended that the Special
Officer-cum-Competent Authority had made an endorsement in the official paper
to the effect that the land involved was outside the purview of the Act, but no
such order was communicated to the respondents. In the counter-affidavit filed
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by the State, it is specifically stated that no decision was taken on the application
submitted by the respondents and before the decision was taken, the
respondents approached the Court by filing the Writ Petition. When the
applications were pending before the Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority,
the High Court should have directed the authority to take an appropriate decision.
When a statutory authority is vested with power to determine the question as to
the applicability of the provisions of the Act, it is ordinarily desirable to leave the
question to be decided by such authority. The aggrieved party can file appeal
against the decision within the framework provided under the Statute and the
ultimate decision also could be challenged under judicial review, if permitted in
law. Instead of undergoing the normal procedure, the respondents herein
directly approached the High Court for the reliefs sought for by them.
The appellants would contend that the lands owned by these respondents
are urban lands coming within the purview of the UL(C&R) Act. The respondents
contend that originally the land in question was agricultural land and it continued
to have the same identity and even if it was brought under the master plan, it
may not have any effect as regards the applicability of the UL(C&R) Act. The
respondents would also contend that after 3.9.1996, it may come under the
purview of the UL(C&R) Act and the respondents individually owned 1000 square
meters and the same is within the prescribed ceiling limit. All these rival
contentions are to be decided by Special Officer-cum-competent Authority. After
due regard to the various provisions contained in the relevant enactments, we do
not think that this is a case where the High Court should have directed HUDA to
pass the lay-out plans without insisting for "no objection" certificate from the
Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority.
We allow the Civil Appeal and direct that the Special Officer-cum-
Competent Authority shall take a decision in the matter at the earliest, i.e., within
a period of three months from this date. The parties would be at liberty to file any
additional application or documents before the Special Officer-cum-Competent
Authority to substantiate their contentions. We make it abundantly clear that
whatever has been stated by us regarding the applicability of the UL(C&R) Act is
only for the purpose of disposal of this appeal and it shall not have any
persuasive effect on the Special Officer-cum-Competent Authority and he shall
take an independent decision uninfluenced by such observations.
..J.
(Y.K. Sabharwal)
...J.
(K.G. Balakrishnan)
April 12, 2002.