Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

19. Learned counsel for the respondents sought to rebut the plea of the requirement of the prior permission by reference to the provisions of Section 507 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, which is as under:-

"507. Special provisions as to rural areas.__ Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this Act,___

(a) the Corporation with the previous approval of the Government, may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that any portion of the rural areas shall cease to be included therein and upon the issue of such notification that portion shall be included in and form part of the urban areas;

22. In Trikha Ram Vs. Sahib Ram & Anr. this Court held that once in pursuance to a notification issued under Section 507(a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act the land is declared to be urban land or ceases to be agriculture land, it can no longer be classified as village Abadi land within the definition of the Delhi Land Reforms Act. It is, in fact, the same notification of 28.5.1966 which was in issue and the judgment in Regal Traders Pvt.Ltd. (supra) was sought to be relied upon. Learned single Judge of this Court observed as under:-

"In my view, the aforesaid judgment would not advance the respondent's case. The judgment as noticed earlier was delivered in the context of whether any sanction for construction of the building under Sections 332 and 333 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act was required or not? The Division Bench did not have the occasion to consider the effect of notification issued under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act under Section 507(a) of urbanising the land. It would be at this stage pertinent to notice the definition of Rural Area and Urban Area as given in Sub-section 52 of Section 2 and Sub-section 61 of Section 2. The effect of a notification under Section 507(a) is that the area mentioned therein ceased to be rural area and from the date of notification is included in urban areas. Even the definition of "Rural Area" in Section 2(52) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act excludes areas, which by virtue of notification under Section 507 cease to be so. In Regal Traders Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. v. Lt.Governor of Delhi & Ors., Court was considering the effect of the notification under Section 507(b) by which certain provisions of Building Regulations were not apply to rural areas. It was not considering, whether provisions of Delhi Land Reforms Act would apply to land that ceases to be rural and becomes urban area. A meaningful reading of Section 3(13) of the Act would show that in the instant case to begin the property in suit fell within "village Abadi". The question that we have to consider is once the provisions of the Delhi Land Reforms Act are applicable on account of the same falling within Section 3(13)(b), whether the same would continue even if it is ceased to be "village Abadi". In my view this would be a case falling within 3(13)(b) and not under 3(13)(d), where the requirement for notification by the Chief Commissioner arises for exclusion of the provisions of the Delhi Land Reforms Act. It appears to me that once by virtue of notification issued under Section 507(a) of the Deli Municipal Corporation Act, the land is declared to be urban land it could no longer be classified as "village Abadi land" within the definition of 'land' under the Delhi Land Reforms Act. The provisions of Land Reforms Act would not be applicable."