Sanjay Kumar vs State Of Maharashtra And Others

S.G. Mehare, J

Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent of the parties, heard finally.

Petitioner has the ancestral field Gat No. 372 at village Manwat. The land measuring 3 H 30 R out of the said field was reserved for Civic Centre

and Stadium under Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966 (‘MRTP Act’ for short) by revised Development Plan dated

30.08.2002. In 2015, the petitioner had consented to acquire his field in favour of respondent no.2. The petitioner and respondent no.2 had executed a

consent deed on 23.03.2015, however, no steps were taken by respondent no.2 to purchase the land and it has shown inability to purchase his land.

The petitioner accordingly served a notice under section 127 of the Act dated 28.09.2018 which the Respondent no.2 received on the same day. The

statutory period of 2 years to acquire the land after the notice under section 127 of the MRTP Act has also lapsed, but no steps to acquire the land as

provided under the said section have been taken by respondent no.2. Hence, his land is liable to be released from the reservation. Hence this petition.

The contesting respondent no.2, through its Chief Officer, in its affidavit in reply has, admitted the material facts of reservation of the land and

service of the purchase notice by the petitioner. Respondent no.2 had immediately forwarded the notice issued by the petitioner to the President of

Municipal Council Manwat for necessary action. However, the President endorsed that as the financial position of the Council is not good, therefore

same will be considered in future. He has fairly conceded that yet no steps have been taken to acquire the

Section 127 of the MRTP Act provides for lapsing of reservation of the land when the Planning Authority fails to acquire or to take steps to acquire

the reserved land within twenty-four months from the date of service of the notice by the landowner or the person having an interest in the reserved

land. Failing to acquire or take the steps as provided in the said section, the reservation, allotment, or designation shall be deemed to have been lapsed

and thereupon, the land shall be deemed to be released from such reservation.

Frequently, the question that arises for consideration in such petitions is, when it is said to have taken steps to acquire the reserved land? Herein the

case, whether the decision of the President of the Municipal Council, that the financial position of the Council is not good, therefore, same will be

considered in future is a step to acquire the field of the petitioner is the question to be answered.

When would the step to acquire the land following the procedure laid in the Land Acquisition Act commence, the Hon’ble Apex Court in the

case of Girnar Traders (II) vs. State of Maharashtra & others, (2007) 7 SCC 555, has answered that the steps towards the acquisition would really

commence when the State Government take active steps for the acquisition of a particular piece of land which would lead to the publication of the

declaration under section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894. Before the purchase notice, the petitioner had executed the consent deed on 23.03.2015

in favour of respondent no.2, even then, it has shown inability to purchase the land of the petitioner. Financial constraint is also not a ground to extend

the statutory period to acquire the land or take steps to acquire the land after the notice is served under section 127 of the MRTP Act. As respondent

no. 2 has failed to comply with the purchase notice as provided in section 127 of MRTP Act, hence by way of legal fiction as provided therein, the

reservation of the petitioner’s land in the Development Plan of Manwat Municipal Council has lapsed.

Given the discussion in the preceding paras, the petition deserves to be allowed.

In the result, the reservation of the field survey no.372 of Manwat for Civic Centre and Stadium reserved in the revised Development Plan at site

no.22 vide Notification dated 30.08.2002 is declared lapsed and released from the reservation as mentioned above. The said land became available to

the petitioner for the development as otherwise permissible in the case of adjacent land under the said plan.

The State Government is directed to notify by an Order publishing in the Official Gazette that the reservation of the above land has lapsed from the

revised Development Plan notified on 30.08.2002 within two months from the date of the receipt of this order.

No order as to costs.

Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms.