Gujarat High Court
Siddhivinayak Cooperative Housing ... vs State Of Gujarat & Ors on 17 February, 2014
Author: A.J.Desai
Bench: A.J.Desai
C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 13412 of 2013
With
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12601 of 2013
With
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 14709 of 2013
With
CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 661 of 2014
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 12601 of 2013
With
CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 640 of 2014
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 13412 of 2013
================================================================
Special Civil Application No. 13412 of 2013 SIDDHIVINAYAK COOPERATIVE HOUSING SOC. LTD Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & Ors.
Special Civil Application No. 12601 of2013 SHRI SHAKTI HIGH COURT STAFF CO-OP. HOUSING SOCIETY LTD & ORS.
Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & Ors.
Special Civil Application No. 13412 of2013 VINOD KUMAR V.P. PODUVAL & ORS Versus STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
================================================================ Appearance in Spl. Civil Application No. 13412 of 2013:
MR AMIT PANCHAL, SR. COUNSEL WITH MR. DIPEN DESAI, ADVOCATE for Petitioners MR PK JANI, GP with MR. RAKESH R.PATEL, AGP for Respondents No. 1 - 2 MR YN RAVANI, ADVOCATE for Respondent No. 3 Appearance in Spl. Civil Application No. 12601 of 2013:
MS SHIVANI RAJPUROHIT for Petitioners MR PK JANI, GP with MR. RAKESH R.PATEL, AGP for Respondents No. 1 - 2 Page 1 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER MR YN RAVANI, ADVOCATE for the Respondent No. 3 Appearance in Civil Application No. 14749 of 2013: MS SHIVANI RAJPUROHIT for Petitioners MR PK JANI, GP with MR. RAKESH R.PATEL, AGP for Respondents No. 1 - 2 ================================================================ CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE A.J.DESAI Date : 17/02/2014 ORAL COMMON ORDER 1 In this group of petitions, some petitioners are the cooperative societies consisting of the employees of the High Court of Gujarat as well as the employees of the Office of the Government Pleader, High Court of Gujarat, and some of the petitioners are the Private Secretaries to the Hon'ble Judges of the High Court have prayed to issue a writ of mandamus or a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order and/or directions directing the respondents to make allotment of 23,000 sq. meters of surplus land which is lying vacant in the area known as "Vasantnagar Township" (Ognej-Gota), Ahmedabad or in the alternative to provide land in any other place in the near vicinity of the High Court, to construct residences.
2 Brief facts arose from the record as under:
2.1 Pursuant to shifting of the High Court from Navrangpura area of Ahmedabad to the area of Sola, Ahmedabad, the employees of the High Court and Government Pleaders Office had requested the State Page 2 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER Government to provide land at concessional rate for residential premises in the near vicinity of the newly constructed High Court complex. The State Government, after consultation with the Gujarat Housing Board, had decided to allot 74,000 sq. meters of land near Ognej village, on certain terms and conditions, namely, eligibility criteria, price of land, mode of payment, etc. The land which was decided to allot belongs to the Gujarat Housing Board which had acquired the lands in the past under the provisions of the Gujarat Housing Board Act.
2.2 Thereafter, a Resolution was passed by the State Government on 20.3.2001 by which 74,000 sq. meters of land was allotted for constructing the houses to the employees of the Gujarat High Court and the Office of Government Pleader. Since the Gujarat Housing Board was the owner of the disputed land, Government had agreed to pay the price at the rate of Rs.1,535/- per sq. meter totalling to Rs. 11,35,90,000/- (Rupees eleven crores thirty lacs and ninety thousand only) to the Board. 2.3 In all, 442 employees of the Gujarat High Court as well as the Office of the GP came forward to purchase the plots and completed formalities and paid the mount. At the end of receiving the applications and payments from these applicants, the Government found that out of 74,000 sq. meters of land, about 43,914 sq. meters land was required for this 442 employees and accordingly paid the amount to the Housing Page 3 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER Board. As per the scheme, for allotment of plots, according to the position of the employees in the respective establishments, different cadres were made and 442 plots of different sizes were allotted to the employees.
2.4 Meanwhile, the Gujarat Housing Board decided to recover an additional amount of Rs. 764/- per sq. meter from the employees since the plot was sold to the general public at the cost of Rs. 2087/- per sq. meter. The said decision was challenged by the employees by way of filing Special Civil Application No.3932 of 2002. Apart from challenging the said decision, the petitioners have also sought for some other reliefs. Ultimately, the following order was passed on 15.3.2007 by the Coordinate Bench of this Court (Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jayant Patel).
"9. Considering the facts and circumstances, I find that the following directions shall meet with the ends of justice:
(i) The District Collector, Ahmedabad, shall issue necessary individual notices to the members of the petitioner Association based on the Government Resolution dated 2.3.2007 read with earlier resolution within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the order this Court.
(ii) The necessary Sanad will be issued to the individual members concerned, who have paid up the amount as required, and the necessary boundaries of the plots concerned shall also be marked by the concerned officer who may be deputed by the District Collector for such purpose, both within a period of two months from the date of payment of the amount pursuant to the aforesaid notice.
(iii) It is needless to clarify that after the Sanads are issued, the concerned allottees would be entitled to develop the land by making construction after obtaining the necessary permission of the concerned authority, including the local authority."Page 4 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER
2.5 It transpires from the record that after the allotment of plots to the aforesaid 442 employees of the Gujarat High Court and Office of the GP, some more employees, who had neither applied for allotment of plots nor fulfilled the eligibility criteria for allotment, have formed a cooperative society in the year 2012, who are petitioners herein, and requested the Registrar General of the High Court that the land which is vacant and excess at Vasantnagar Township, shall be allotted to them. The Registrar General of the High Court therefore started correspondence with the Office of the Collector.
2.6 Since the Government did not allot this land to the members of the petitioner society and other individuals, the present petitions have been filed and have prayed to allot plots either at Survey No. 919 or 957 of village Ognej (known as Vasantnagar Township) and/or any other place in the Ahmedabad City, near High Court complex, at concessional rates, as per the policy of the State Government as expeditiously as possible.
2.7 Pursuant to the notice issued by this Court, the respective respondents have filed their affidavit-in-reply opposing the petitions. The matters are taken up for hearing since an Order is passed by the Division Bench of this Court in Civil Application No.9864 of 2013 in Letters Page 5 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER Patent Appeal No. 788 of 2013 which was preferred in Special Civil Application No.579 of 2013 by one of the allottees of Vasantnagar Township for water supply, drainage connection and other basic infrastructural facilities. On 25.10.2013, by referring the present petitions, the Division Bench asked the Gujarat Housing Board to maintain status quo at the disputed site till the present petition is heard. 2.8 The aforesaid order is in existence since October, 2013, the Gujarat Housing Board has filed two Applications, being Civil Application No. 661 of 2013 and Civil Application No. 640 of 2014, inter alia, praying that the Board be permitted to proceed with the project of Housing Scheme for Lower Income Group and Middle Income Group on the disputed lands.
3 Mr. Amit Panchal, learned Advocate, Mr. Dipen A Desai, learned Advocate and Ms. Shivani Rajpurohit, learned Advocate, have appeared for the petitioners. Mr. Dipen Desai, learned Advocate, submitted that by Resolution dated 20.3.2001, land admeasuring 74,000 sq.meters, was allotted for the employees of the Gujarat High Court and the office of the GP. Out of 74,000 sq. meters of land, only 43,914 sq. meters of land was allotted to 442 employees, who have either constructed their residential premises or the construction is being carried out. Out of 74,000 sq. meters of land, 21,285 sq. meters of land is kept Page 6 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER open for common utility like common plots, internal roads, approach roads etc. Therefore, about 65,198 sq. meters of land have been used for the benefit of the said 442 allottees and that the remaining about 11,000 sq. meters of land shall be allotted to the petitioners. Mr. Dipen Desai, learned Advocate for the petitioners, taking me through the Communication dated 6.3.2012 addressed by the Registrar General of the High Court of Gujarat to the District Collector, would submit that in the said communication it is mentioned that 11,000 sq. meters of land is surplus and therefore the same shall be allotted to the petitioners. Again, a reminder was sent to the Collector, Ahmedabad District, by the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court on 16.7.2012 and requested to do the needful in the matter.
3.1 Mr. Dipen Desai, learned Advocate, for the petitioners, taking me through the information received from the Gujarat Housing Board dated 5.3.2013, would submit that the land admeasuring 23,000 sq. meters is available near the existing township, which can be allotted to the petitioners. He would further submit that all the members of the petitioner societies are even otherwise now eligible to get a plot as per the first Resolution of 2001. By taking me through the communication addressed by the Collector to the Deputy Secretary, Revenue Department, he would submit that even as per the said communication, 8,801 sq. Page 7 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER meters of land is available for allotment, which can be allotted to the petitioners. Mr. Desai would further submit that even the Revenue Department had requested to the Collector, Ahmedabad, that since the land is available at Vasantnagar Township, the same can be allotted to them. He would, therefore, submit that the land admeasuring 74,000 sq. meters is reserved for the employees of the High Court of Gujarat and the Office the GP, it can only be made available to them, for whom the land was reserved. Mr. Dipen Desai, learned Advocate for the petitioners has vehemently argued that the Gujarat Housing Board may not be permitted to develop the remaining 11,000 sq. meters of land and, therefore, requested to admit and allow the petitions and the prayers sought for may be granted in the interest of justice. 4 On the other hand, Mr. S.N. Shelat, learned Senior Counsel, Mr. Mihir Thakore, learned Senior Counsel and Mr. Y.N. Ravani, learned Advocate, have appeared for the Gujarat Housing Board and vehemently opposed these petitions and submitted that in 2001 when the Government had decided to allot lands to the employees of the Gujarat High Court and the Office of GP, it was a tentative decision of the Government to allot 74,000 sq. meters of land for such purpose, that too, on payment of price arrived at between the Government and the Housing Board since the Housing Board was the owner of the property and had acquired the Page 8 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER land under the provisions of the Gujarat Housing Board Act. It is submitted that upto 2005, only 442 employees had come forward for purchasing the plots which was sold at a concessional price from the said Vasantnagar Township. Ultimately, by Resolution dated 12.3. 2007 it was declared by the State Government that the price of land would be Rs.2,078 sq. meter and since the Government had purchased 43,914 sq. meters of land, the State has to pay an amount of Rs. 9,12,53,292/- and 21,285 sq. meters of land was kept for common utilities such as, common plot, approach roads and internal roads etc. which can be used by the allottees and residents of the Vasantnagar Township. 4.1 Mr. Thakore, learned Senior Counsel, would submit that the Board had acquired several lands in Vasantnagar Township are in past which includes the disputed land and surrounding area under the provisions of the Gujarat Housing Board Act after payment of compensation to the land owners. Since the amount was received by the Board for sale of 43,914 sq. meters of land, an order was passed by the Collector on 30.6.2007 whereby it was declared that the Government had purchased 43,914 sq. meters of land. It was further declared that the Gujarat Housing Board is the owner of land admeasuring 21,285 sq. meters, which was kept for common plot, internal roads, approach roads, etc. Mr. Thakore, learned Senior Counsel, would further submit that the Page 9 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER scheme, which was floated for the employees in the year 2001, was for a particular time only, which ultimately finalized in the year 2007. 4.2 It is submitted that by creating an another cooperative society either by the employees of the High Court or the employees of the Office of GP, they cannot compel the Gujarat Housing Board to allot land, which is otherwise acquired as per the provisions of the Gujarat Housing Board Act. Mr. Thakore, learned Senior Counsel, would submit that there is shortage of urban housing and, therefore, the Government of India has asked the State Governments to provide residential schemes for lower and middle income groups in accordance with the provisions of the Gujarat Housing Board Act. Therefore, the Gujarat Housing Board has floated a new project near the disputed land for the lower and middle income groups and, therefore, the petitioners can also take part as and when the auction for allotment of houses being conducted by the Board, in accordance with law.
4.3 Mr. Thakore, learned Senior Counsel, would further submit that greater weightage should be given to the public at large than any class of people or of group of any institution. It cannot be said that though the land belongs to the Gujarat Housing Board and the same must be allotted to the employees of any particular class of people or of any institution. It is therefore, submitted that all the petitions have no Page 10 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER substance and be dismissed.
5 Mr. P.K. Jani, learned GP assisted by Mr. Rakesh R. Patel, learned AGP, appearing for the State of Gujarat, has made clear the stand of the State Government by filing an affidavit-in-reply of the Under Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, Gandhinagar. Mr. Jani, learned GP, would submit that considering the need of the day i.e. in the year 2001, when the High Court was shifted at a distance from the main city, Government thought it fit to provide residential plots to the employees of the High Court and office of the GP and decided to purchase land from the Gujarat Housing Board and deposited the price of the land. He would submit that the Government had purchased about 43,914 sq. meters of land from the same area and allotted to 442 employees who had applied earlier. 5.1 Mr. P.K. Jani, learned GP, would further submit that the Government has exhaustively dealt with the case of the petitioners about the allotment of land and it was decided that it was not possible to allot land at Vasantnagar Township as demanded by the petitioners. It was also decided by the Government that the Resolution dated 20.3.2001 was passed as a special case due to shifting of the High Court to the new complex at Sola. Mr. Jani, learned GP, would submit that the rest of the land belongs to the Gujarat Housing Board and neither the State Page 11 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER Government nor the petitioners can claim for allotment. Mr. Jani, learned GP, would submit that the land admeasuring 49,163 sq. meters, which is proposed to be utilized for the new scheme floated by the Gujarat Housing Board for the low and middle income groups and no land is available with the Government for allotment. It is, therefore, submitted that there is no substance in the petitions and requested to dismiss the same.
6 I have heard learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties. I have perused the Resolution dated 20.3.2001, affidavits filed by the respective parties, documents annexed with the petitions and the orders passed by this Court in the earlier round of litigations. It has been made crystal clear that in the Resolution of 2001 that the land belongs to the Gujarat Housing Board and Government had agreed to purchase 74,000 sq. meters of land by paying an amount of 11,35,90,000/- The land admeasuring 74,000 sq. meters was decided to allot for the residential purpose of the employees of the Gujarat High Court as well as the Office of GP on certain terms and conditions. Since 442 employees have come forward for getting allotment of plot, it was finally decided to pay the amount to the Gujarat Housing Board which was paid by the State of Gujarat to the Board. Government has not purchased the remaining land from Gujarat Housing Board and has not earmarked the Page 12 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER same for allotment to the employees of the High Court and the Office of the G.P. 6.1 It is true that the Registrar General of the Gujarat High Court had written letters to the Collector, District Ahmedabad, for allotment of 11,000 sq. meters of land, but the same is not binding on the respondents, namely, the Gujarat Housing Board as well as the State Government. In my opinion, the Resolution dated 20.3.2001 is nowhere declares that 74,000 sq. meters of land is to be marked as "reserved" for the employees of the High Court of Gujarat as well as the Office of the GP. Gujarat Housing Board, who is the owner of the property, though agreed to sell 74,000 sq. meters of land, had sold only 43,913 sq. meters of land to the State Government as asked by it for the purpose of allotment of plots to 442 employees who had applied for plots. It is pertinent to mention that the employees, who had come forward for allotment of plots and fulfilled the conditions, have been allotted the plots by the State of Government way back in the year 2005 or 2007. If new societies are created by some more employees of the High Court of Gujarat and/or the employees of the Office of the GP, in my opinion, they would not be become automatically entitle for allotment of land, that too, after a few years especially when the Board has no intention to sell the disputed land to the Government as the Board wants to use the land for its new project specifically earmarked Page 13 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER for launching of affordable housing schemes for the lower income and middle income groups and wants to make available houses for the public at large which should not be a class of employees of the Government or the High Court as well as when the Government is not ready to pay the price to the Gujarat Housing Board.
6.2 It is also pertinent to note that the correspondences which have been placed on record and particularly the Order dated 30.6.2007 passed by the Collector, it was made clear that the Government had purchased only 43,914 sq. meters of land and 21,284 sq. meters of land was kept open for common amenities like common plot, approach roads, internal roads, etc. and the remaining land is the ownership of the Housing Board.
6.3 Considering the overall facts of the case, I am of the opinion that the petitioners cannot ask either the Gujarat Housing Board or the Government to sale or purchase the land in dispute. Again, the State Government has made it clear by Communication dated 16.11.2013 that the demands of the petitioners cannot be accepted by the State Government since sufficient land is not available for allotment to all the employees. Even otherwise, considering the scheme of the Gujarat Housing Board, the Board has to construct houses for different types of categories and has to auction them for the public at large. I am of the Page 14 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER opinion that the respondents cannot be compelled to allot the land in dispute to the petitioners, however, the State Government can certainly consider the case of the petitioners keeping in mind the geographical position of the High Court which is at a distant place from city of Ahmedabad from which the employees are daily attending the court. 7 In the result, the petitions are rejected. Notices are discharged. Interim relief granted earlier stands vacated. However, it is expected that considering the geographical situation of the High Court and Office of Government Pleader which is established in the compound of High Court of Gujarat, the respondent No.1-State Government may consider the case of the petitioners for allotment of plots in any other area in the vicinity of the High Court of Gujarat. 8 At this stage, Mr. Dipen Desai, learned Advocate, appearing for the petitioners, requested to continue the stay granted by the Division Bench in Civil Application No.9864 of 2013. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the Gujarat Housing Board is hereby restrained from proceeding further with the project, as far as disputed land is concerned, for three weeks from today
9. In view of the aforesaid order passed in the main petitions, the Civil Application No. 661 of 2014 and Civil Application No. 640 of Page 15 of 16 C/SCA/13412/2013 ORDER 2014 filed by the Gujarat Housing Board, having become infructuous and stand disposed of accordingly.
(A.J.DESAI, J.) pnnair Page 16 of 16