CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 14945 OF 1991 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. DATE OF DECISION: August 18 , 2011. Parties Name The Bank Employee's Co-operative Housing Building Society Ltd. ...PETITIONER VERSUS The State of Haryana and another ...RESPONDENTS CORAM: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jasbir Singh Hon'ble Mr. Justice Augustine George Masih PRESENT: Mr. A.K.Chopra, Sr. Adv., with Mr. G.S.Sullar, Advocate, for the petitioners Mr. Kamal Sehgal, Addl. A.G., Haryana; Jasbir Singh, J. (oral) JUDGMENT This order will dispose of two writ petitions, i.e., Civil Writ Petitions No.14945 of 1991 and 8724 of 1993 as common question of law and facts is involved in both the cases. For facility of dictating order, facts are being mentioned from CWP No. 14945 of 1991. Petitioner is 'The Bank Employee's Co-operative Housing Building Society Ltd.'. It has filed this writ petition with a prayer to quash a CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 14945 OF 1991 -2- notification dated March 30, 1990, issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,(in short the Act) proposing to acquire a vast track of land, including the land owned by the petitioner measuring 62 Kanals 3 Marlas. Further challenge has been laid to a declaration issued under Section 6 of the Act on March 27, 1991. It is case of the petitioner that its members are the poor Bank employees. They had purchased the land mentioned above so that they may, after their retirement, construct a residential house thereon. The Society was got registered in the year 1975 and the land was purchased thereafter. It is also case of the petitioner that at one time, application was filed before the competent authority to carve out a plotted colony in the above said land. However, that application was rejected on a ground that the land owned by the Society does not meet the norms to carve out a plotted colony and also that land has been subjeced to the acquisition. This matter came up for hearing before this Court on May 16, 2011. By stating that the members of the petitioner are poor employees and they had purchased the land many years earlier to the issuance of the notifications mentioned above, to construct their houses, counsel for the petitioner submitted that let the State Government consider case of the petitioner – Society for construction of Multi Storeyed Group Housing construction. Shri Sehgal was directed to get instructions. In response thereto, he has put on record copy of a letter, received from the Director General, Town & Country Planning, Haryana, Chandigarh. Contents of that letter read thus: “From CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 14945 OF 1991 -3- Director General, Town & Country Planning, Haryana, Chandigarh. To Sh. Kamal Sehgal, Additional Advocate General, Haryana, Chandigarh. Memo No. 8759 dated 30/6/11 Subject:CWP No. 8724 of 1993 Bank Employees Co-operative Society V/s State of Haryana, CWP No. 14945 of 1993 Bank Employees Co-operative Society V/s State of Haryana Ref: Your office memo No. 27254 dated 17.05.2011 on the subject cites above. It is to inform you that as per the norms fixed by the State Govt. vide letter dated 19.12.2006, minimum area of 5 acres is required for development of GH Colony in the Medium Potential Zone and the Rewari Distt. Falls in the Medium Potential Zone. Though, the case fulfills the area norms for grant of licence for GH colony, however, the applicant is also required to fulfill the following conditions to enable Department to consider its application. 1. The applicant will apply afresh on LC-1 alongwith scrutiny fee, license fee as applicable today alongwith necessary documents as required to be furnished as per requirement of Rule 3 of the Haryana Development and Regulations of Urban Area Rules 1976 and in accordance with Govt. policy issued vide letter No. 7/16/2006 2 TCP dated 15.9.2008 CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 14945 OF 1991 -4- (copy enclosed). 2. The applicant Society shall submit an undertaking to get the boundaries of its colony regularized from HUDA in the interest of better planning. Only thereafter, the case of the petitioners can be considered for grant of license subject to fulfillment of other terms and conditions. You are, therefore, requested to apprise the Hon'ble Court accordingly. DA/as above. Sd/- (Sunita Sethi) District Town Planner (HQ) O/o Director General, Town & Country Planning, Haryana, Chandigarh.” At the time of arguments, it is stated by Shri Sehgal that let the petitioner file an application on LC-1 form along with scrutiny fee etc. to get a licence to raise group housing construction and on meeting the requirements, action will be taken thereon Under the circumstances, we dispose of these writ petitions with liberty to the petitioner(s) to move an application as mentioned in the letter dated June 30, 2011, reproduced above. If the applications are moved within six weeks from today, the authorities shall consider the same preferably within three months thereafter. If in the meantime, any legal requirement needs to be completed by the petitioners, those be intimated to it to do the same. We are hopeful that the case of the petitioners will be considered in a sympathetic manner. It is made clear that in case petitioners fail to get any relief from the authorities, liberty shall remain with them to lay challenge to the order to be passed and also to the acquisition in dispute. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 14945 OF 1991 -5- Till such time a decision is taken on applications to be filed by the petitioners and two weeks thereafter, the petitioners' possession shall not be disturbed. ( Jasbir Singh ) Judge (Augustine George Masih) Judge August 18 , 2011 DKC