Mere forwarding of an acquisition proposal does not constitute steps under Section 127 of the MRTP Act.

The petitioner owned land bearing Survey No. 434/9A/2/2, corresponding to C.S. No. 2593 (part), situated at Bhosari, Kasarwadi, Pune.

Under the Development Plan sanctioned on 18 September 1995, the land was reserved for widening a 7.50-metre road.

The land was not acquired within ten years from the Development Plan’s coming into force, the period expiring on 19 September 2005.

On 27 May 2022, the petitioner served a purchase notice under Section 127 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (“MRTP Act”), calling upon the respondents to commence acquisition proceedings.

The Municipal Corporation objected that the notice was incomplete, that maps and the Development Plan extract were not annexed, and that an acquisition proposal had already been forwarded to the Collector by letter dated 24 June 2020.

The petitioner issued a rejoinder on 6 March 2024.

However, even after expiry of the statutory period of twenty-four months on 28 May 2024, the land was neither acquired nor were valid acquisition proceedings commenced.

The petitioner therefore filed the writ petition seeking a declaration that the reservation had lapsed and a direction to publish the statutory notification.

1. Whether the reservation of the petitioner’s land for a 7.50-metre road had lapsed under Section 127 of the MRTP Act when the land was not acquired within twenty-four months of service of the purchase notice and no legally sufficient steps towards acquisition were commenced?

2. Whether the Municipal Corporation’s resolution for revision of the Development Plan or its forwarding of an acquisition proposal to the Collector constituted “steps” towards acquisition under Section 127 of the MRTP Act?

3. Whether failure to annex a Government measurement map and Development Plan extract invalidated the purchase notice under Section 127 of the MRTP Act?

The Court applied Section 127(1) of the MRTP Act, under which, where land reserved under a plan is not acquired within the prescribed period, the owner or interested person may serve a purchase notice; if, within twenty-four months of service, the land is not acquired or steps towards acquisition are not commenced, the reservation is deemed to have lapsed and the land becomes available for development as permissible for adjoining land.

Under Section 127(2), the Government must notify such lapsing in the Official Gazette.

Relying on Girnar Traders v. State of Maharashtra, (2007) 7 SCC 555, and Shrirampur Municipal Council v. Satyabhamabai Bhimaji Dawkher, (2013) 5 SCC 627, the Court held that valid steps towards acquisition require substantive action leading to acquisition proceedings; merely passing a resolution or sending a proposal or letter to the Collector is insufficient.

The Court further held, relying on Sanjay Singh v. U.P. Public Service Commission, (2007) 3 SCC 720, that courts cannot add requirements to clear statutory language, and therefore Section 127 does not mandate annexing a Government measurement map or Development Plan extract to the purchase notice.

The Development Plan reservation had remained unimplemented for more than ten years, and the petitioner consequently became entitled to invoke Section 127 by serving the purchase notice dated 27 May 2022.

The Corporation’s reliance on its 2017 resolution concerning revision of the Development Plan and its letter dated 24 June 2020 forwarding an acquisition proposal did not satisfy the statutory requirement, since neither amounted to commencement of effective acquisition proceedings under the principles laid down in Shrirampur Municipal Council.

The Court also rejected the objection regarding non-annexure of maps and the Development Plan extract because Section 127 only requires service of notice along with documents showing the owner’s title or interest in the land; it does not prescribe those additional documents.

Since the land was not acquired and no legally sufficient acquisition steps were commenced within twenty-four months of the notice, the statutory consequence of deemed lapsing followed.

The respondents were directed to publish, within twelve weeks, a notification in the Official Gazette declaring the lapsing of the reservation concerning Survey No. 434/9A/2/2, corresponding to C.S. No. 2593 (part), at Bhosari, Kasarwadi, Pune.

The petition was accordingly disposed of.