Statutory Reservation Lapses Upon Failure to Issue Section 19 Declaration Within Twenty-Four Months of Purchase Notice

The Petitioners own land at Survey No. 117/4 in Village Sangmeshwar, Malegaon.

Under the Development Plan sanctioned on September 15, 2006, this land was reserved (Reservation No. 378) for a burial ground.

After more than 15 years without acquisition, the Petitioners served a Purchase Notice under Section 127 of the MRTP Act on November 19, 2018, followed by a second notice on December 5, 2018.

Although the Petitioners submitted ownership documents as requested by the Malegaon Municipal Corporation, the 24-month statutory period for acquisition expired on November 19, 2020.

The Respondents argued that acquisition was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and discrepancies in land measurements.

1. Whether the reservation of the subject land lapsed under Section 127 of the MRTP Act due to the Respondents' failure to take "requisite steps" for acquisition within the mandated 24-month period following the Purchase Notice.

2. Whether administrative actions, such as land measurement or internal correspondence, constitute the commencement of acquisition proceedings sufficient to prevent the lapsing of reservation.

Section 127 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act), which stipulates that if reserved land is not acquired within ten years of a plan's sanction, the owner may serve notice; if no "requisite steps" for acquisition are taken within 24 months thereafter, the reservation lapses.

Girnar Traders v. State of Maharashtra (2011), which clarifies that "steps" must be legally recognized actions toward acquisition, not merely administrative ones.

Precedents from Ramakant Vasudeo Pai v. State of Maharashtra (2021) and Trilok Singh Pahlajsingh Rajpal v. MCGM (2022) were applied to establish that acquisition begins only upon the publication of a declaration under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, or Section 19 of the Fair Compensation Act, 2013.

The Court observed that "steps toward acquisition" have a specific legal meaning: the publication of a formal declaration under the relevant land acquisition statutes.

Neither the Malegaon Municipal Corporation nor the State Government issued a declaration under Section 19 of the 2013 Act within the prescribed 24-month period, even when accounting for COVID-19 exclusions.

The court rejected the Respondents' defense regarding ongoing land measurements and internal letters, characterizing them as "mere administrative steps" that do not satisfy the statutory requirements of the MRTP Act.

The court emphasized that land cannot be "locked under reservation indefinitely" and that the failure of authorities to act expeditiously must result in the legal consequence of the reservation lapsing to protect the owner's rights.

The Court allowed the Petition, declared the property free from reservation, and directed Respondent No. 1 (State of Maharashtra) to notify the lapsing of the reservation in the Official Gazette within two months.