Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

Submissions Mr.Aruneshwar Gupta , Mr.Rajendra Prasad and Mr.A.K.Jain, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners have submitted that lease agreement for 100 acres of prime and valuable land belonging to the State Government, Municipal Corporation and JDA held by them in public trust for no payment to them and payment of annual license fee of Rs.1/- per year to the State and Rs.2.52 crores to RTDC with obligations to maintain lake and various other kinds of obligations, is unreasonable and fraud on economics of the State and public exchequer. The Municipal Board and JDA have got no lease amount for the assets held by them in public trust. The minimum value of the land as per DLC rate is Rs.2500 crores, which could fetch a minimum return at 6% amounting to Rs.150 crores per annum. Market price is 3500 crores. They have further submitted that out of 100 acres of land leased out to Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt. Ltd., more than 13 bigha of land is recorded as Gairmumkin Talab, which is in the lakebed itself and as apparent from the possession report, more than 14 acres of land was submerged at the time of handing the possession. It was not permissible to lease out the lake. Thus, the lease agreement and leave and license agreement are illegal and void. The entire area of 100 acres of land is in the bed of lake; area of the lake has been reduced in order to carve out 100 acres to be given for commercial activities to Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd. for construction of seven star hotel, craft bazar, multiplex etc.; there is no clearance from the Central Government MOEF; 99 years lease is by way of sale of lease hold rights; 100 acres of valuable land could not have been given on lease for 99 years and even leave and license could not have been given with respect to other project area including Jal Mahal monument that too at the annual rate of Rs.1/-; wetland could not have been given for the purpose it has been given to Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd.; as per Wetlands Rules, 100 acres of land is part of the lake and even catchment area cannot be given considering the ancient monument Jal Mahal and only Lake Mansagar, which is left in Jaipur after Ramgarh dam has dried up. It was further submitted that KGK Enterprises was not fulfilling the eligibility condition of private/public limited company; considering the various clauses of the agreement, right has been given to the lessee to sub lease or alien or mortgage the property to obtain loan that too for a period of 99 years, transaction is fraud on public exchequer; huge investment has been made by MOEF Central Government for conservation and management of Mansagar lake and it has sanctioned a sum of Rs.17.30 crores as 70% of its share and rest by JDA; offer has been revised substantially making it more commercial; even State Government has earlier objected to the revised offer on 10.10.2007 as being in contravention of the master plan, but later on, for the reasons best known to them, revised plan was sanctioned on 10.9.2009; there is violation of the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Abdul Rehman (supra); as per clause 5.6 of the leave and license agreement, Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd. was authorized to levy any amount of user charges on the public and restrict the visitors failing to pay the specified user charges and such levy of fees and charges on the public after paying just Rs.1/- per year to the State Government is contrary and in violation of the principles of transparency, accountability, public financing and smacks of highhandedness, corruption and nepotism by people in authority/power and clearly contravenes the doctrine of public trust. Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd. was incorporated having no nexus with the activities to be undertaken under the leave and license agreement, which are in the nature of conservation, restoration and reuse of Jal Mahal as a monument and not as a hotel or resort; the license agreement and the work of conservation, restoration and reuse of Jal Mahal has been used as a mere mask for giving on lease 100 acres of wetland in the prime location of the city of Jaipur. The lease agreement and leave and license agreement are in violation of the Ramsar Convention 1982 and Rule 4 of the Wetlands Rules. It was also submitted that PPP model projected by Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd. is under a serious cloud because IL and FS with whom RTDC has formed PDCOR has a serious case study against them and are also the consultants of Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd.; it is apparent that umpire is acting as advisor in the whole process. There is no delay in filing the writ petitions as plan has been revised in 2009 and some of the clearances have been obtained on 19.7.2010 and so far no clearance is obtained of MOEF. Reliance has also been placed on Section 16 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act; it was also submitted that land in question is surrounded by Nahargarh Wildlife Sanctuary on one side and admittedly there is reserved forest on other two sides within 1 km and in case kind of given project falls within 10 kms from wildlife sanctuary, it has to be treated as Class A project and permission of Central Government MOEF is necessary, which has not been obtained. There will be damage to the migratory birds, flora and fauna of the area; ecology of the area will be disturbed; commercial exploitation of the huge area could not have been permitted; wall has been erected on eastern side of the lake; there is violation of the provisions of the Municipalities Act and Rules framed thereunder; lease of 99 years could not have been given without fixing the reserve price on the basis of market value of the property as lease of 99 years amounts to sale; it was necessary to realize reserve price as well as annual rental value which has not been done; such land vests as per Municipalities Act in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation; there is no valid transfer of land by Jaipur Municipal Corporation, JDA and Government to RTDC and thus, execution of lease agreement for 100 acres of land by RTDC as owner is illegal and void; Special Purpose Vehicle has been incorporated after bidding process with Rs.50 lacs capital; land worth of Rs.3500 crores could not have been given to Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt.Ltd.; there is violation of Rules of 1974, Rajasthan Tourism, Disposal of lands and Properties by DOT/RTDC Rules, 1997 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of 1997) and Municipalities Act; there is also violation of the Central Government MOEF notification issued on 14.9.2006.