Madras HC Orders ₹75 Lakh OSR Refund To IT Park Developer Under Pre-1975 Exemption For SIDCO Layout Approved In 1971

The petitioner applied for planning permission to construct an IT Park on plots forming part of a SIDCO industrial layout developed in 1966 and finally approved in 1971.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), by Advice Memo dated 20 September 2019, demanded several charges, including ₹75 lakh as open space reservation (OSR) charges. The petitioner paid under protest and challenged the OSR demand, relying on the exemption in G.O.Ms.No.743 dated 10 May 1979 for layouts or subdivisions approved or effected before 5 August 1975. The petition sought quashing of the demand and refund of the amount paid.

G.O.Ms.No.743, Housing and Urban Development (UDI Department), dated 10 May 1979, modified Rule 19(a)(iv) of the Development Control Rules to prescribe OSR requirements according to the area of land.

It also directed that the modification take effect from 5 August 1975 and exempted layouts and subdivisions approved or effected before that date from the stated requirements.

The Court held that the extent-based requirements govern cases to which the modified Rules apply; they cannot override the Government Order’s specific exemption for pre-5 August 1975 layouts.

The Court found that the subject plots formed part of a SIDCO industrial layout developed in 1966 and finally approved in 1971, rather than being independent subdivisions created after the Development Control Rules came into force.

The layout therefore fell within the express pre-5 August 1975 exemption. The plots’ area exceeding 3,000 square metres did not displace that exemption, because the area-based requirements could not be applied in a way that nullified the specific exemption in the same Government Order.

The respondents’ contention regarding OSR land reserved or gifted in the original layout did not alter the legal effect of the exemption.

It allowed the writ petition and quashed the Advice Memo dated 20 September 2019 insofar as it demanded OSR charges for the subject property.

The second respondent was directed to refund ₹75 lakh within 12 weeks of receiving a copy of the order; if it failed to do so, interest at 6% per annum would accrue from the date of default until payment. The connected miscellaneous petition was closed, with no order as to costs.