IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.RAVINDRAN MONDAY, THE 22ND NOVEMBER 2010 / 1ST AGRAHAYANA 1932 WP(C).No. 34109 of 2010(K) ---------------------------------------- PETITIONER(S): ------------------------- MEHAMOL.V,D/O.HAMZA,VADAKEDAN HOUSE, KATTUNGAL,MUNDUPARAMBA,MALAPPURAM DISTRICT. BY ADVS. SRI.BABU S. NAIR, SMT. M.T. SHEEBA. RESPONDENT(S): ---------------------------- THE MALAPPURAM MUNICIPALITY, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,MALAPPURAM. BY ADV. SRI. E.S.M.KABEER, SC THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 22/11/2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: Kss WPC.NO.34109/2010 K APPENDIX PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS: P1: COPY OF THE SITE PLAN SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER OF THE PROPOSED COMMERCIAL BUILDING. P2: COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DTD. 20/10/2010 OF THE RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER. P3: COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DTD. 12/08/2010 IN WP(C) NO.21825/2010 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT. RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS: N I L /TRUE COPY/ P.A.TO JUDGE Kss P.N.RAVINDRAN, J. --------------------------- W.P.(C) No. 34109 OF 2010 -------------------------- Dated this the 22nd day of November, 2010 J U D G M E N T The petitioner is the owner of a parcel of land situated within the local limits of Malappuram Municipality. It is situated by the side of Malappuram-Manjeri road. With a view to put up a commercial building in the said parcel of land, the petitioner applied to the Secretary of the Malappuram Municipality for a building permit. By Ext.P2 letter dated 20.10.2010, the Secretary called upon the petitioner to submit a revised plan after excluding the area to be ear- marked for widening the road. Ext.P2 is under challenge in this writ petition. The petitioner contends that, till date, no notification has been issued under the Land Acquisition Act to acquire the land or any portion thereof and therefore, the mere fact that in future the road may be widened is not a good reason to call upon the petitioner to provide additional set back or front open space. It is also contended that as no notification has been issued to acquire the land or any portion thereof, the Secretary ought to have considered the plan presently submitted by the petitioner and take a decision in the matter in accordance with law. In this writ petition, WPC No.34109/2010 2 the petitioner challenges Ext.P2 and seeks a direction to the respondent to issue the building permit. 2. I heard Miss M.T.Sheeba, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. E.S.M. Kabeer, learned standing counsel appearing for the respondent. I have also gone through the pleadings and the materials on record. The learned standing counsel fairly conceded that as on today no notification under section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act has been issued to acquire any portion of the petitioner's land. He submitted that Ext.P2 was issued having regard to the fact that in future the road may be widened which would require acquisition of the land belonging to the petitioner and that it was contemplating that situation, Ext.P2 letter was issued calling upon the petitioner to submit a revised plan. It is now well settled by a series of decisions of this Court including the decision in Padmini v. State of Kerala (1999 (3) KLT 465) that a mere proposal to acquire the land cannot be a reason to reject an application for building permit or decline to approve a plan. In the light of the authoritative pronouncement of this Court, it has to be necessarily held that the stand taken by the Secretary of the Malappuram Municipality in Ext.P2 cannot be sustained. WPC No.34109/2010 3 I accordingly allow the writ petition, quash Ext.P2 and direct the Secretary of the Malappuram Municipality to reconsider the petitioner's application for the issue of a building permit without insisting on production of a revised plan and take an appropriate decision thereon expeditiously and in any event within one month from the date on which the petitioner produces a certified copy of this judgment before him. P.N.RAVINDRAN, (JUDGE) vps WPC No.34109/2010 4 WPC No.34109/2010 5