Computer Centre Builder Gets 30 Days To Seek Lease For Government Land, As Chhattisgarh HC Says Panchayat Resolution Was No Valid Allotment

The petitioner relied on Nagar Panchayat Adbhar Resolution No. 38 dated 12 June 2023, which resolved to allot him 2.5 dismil of land for a computer education centre.

He began construction, but the State treated the land as Government land and initiated proceedings for encroachment; the Tehsildar directed removal of the construction, followed by a notice dated 14 October 2024.

The petitioner challenged the action, asserting that he had acted on the Nagar Panchayat’s resolution and used the premises to provide computer education to local residents.

The State and Nagar Panchayat contended that the resolution did not constitute a valid allotment and that the petitioner had no enforceable right to the land.

The Court found that the allotment process had not been completed in accordance with law and that no valid lease or allotment had been produced.

Construction on Government land cannot be treated as lawful unless the land has been duly allotted or leased by the competent authority; a Nagar Panchayat resolution alone does not confer a right to occupy the land where the prescribed allotment process remains incomplete.

The Court did not cite a specific statutory provision or precedent as the basis for this principle.

The petitioner’s resolution did not identify or establish a completed lawful allotment, and the record showed that no valid patta or lease had been obtained from the competent revenue authority.

Accordingly, the petitioner could not claim a right to retain the construction merely on the strength of the resolution.

However, because the structure had already been raised and the petitioner was imparting computer education to local residents, the Court considered it appropriate to allow him to seek a lease and directed the authorities to consider the application pragmatically, while still deciding it in accordance with law.

It modified the notice dated 14 October 2024 to the extent stated in its directions, requiring the petitioner to apply to the competent revenue authorities within 30 days and directing those authorities to decide the application within a further 60 days.

The petitioner was required to abide by the competent authority’s decision; the writ petition was disposed of accordingly.