IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.RAVINDRAN FRIDAY, THE 3RD SEPTEMBER 2010 / 12TH BHADRA 1932 WP(C).No. 4509 of 2010(K) ------------------------- PETITIONER: --------------- SABEENA HUSSAIN, AGED 37 YEARS, D/O.ABDUL SALAM, SWARNA VILLA, O.V.ROAD, THALASSERY.P.O, KANNUR DISTRICT. BY ADVS. SRI.M.SASINDRAN SRI.V.VENUGOPAL RESPONDENTS: --------------- 1. THALASSERY MINICIPALITY, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, THALASSERY, KANNUR DISTRICT. 2. THE SECRETARY,THALASSERY MINICIPALITY, THALASSERY, KANNUR DISTRICT. 3. THE ASSISTANT ENGINEER, THALASSERY MINICIPALITY,THALASSERY, KANNUR DISTRICT. R1 TO R3 BY STANDING COUNSEL SRI.I.V.PRAMOD THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 03/09/2010,THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: VK WP(C).No. 4509 of 2010(K) ------------------------- APPENDIX PETITIONERS EXHIBITS EXT.P1. : COPY OF THE BUILDING PLAN. EXT.P1(a). : COPY OF THE SITE PLAN. EXT.P2: : COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 13.1.2010. EXT.P3. : COPY OF THE RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE MUNICIPALITY. EXT.P4. : CPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN W.P.(C) NO.28206 OF 2006. EXT.P5. : COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN W.A. NO.80 OF 2007. EXT.P6. : COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN WP(C) NO.26792 OF 2008 DATED 23.6.2009. RESPONDENTS EXHIBIT : NIL P.S. TO JUDGE / TRUE COPY / VK P.N.RAVINDRAN, J. ------------------------------- W.P.(C) No.4509 of 2010 ------------------------------- Dated this the 3rd day of September, 2010 J U D G M E N T The petitioner is the owner of a parcel of land, 9 cents in extent, situated in R.Sy.No.25/2A of Thalassery Village. She submitted an application to the Secretary of Thalassery Municipality for a building permit to put up a residential building therein. The said application was rejected by Ext.P2 order dated 13.1.2010 on the short ground that a proposal to acquire a portion of the said land for the purpose of a new road is in contemplation. Ext.P2 is under challenge in this writ petition. 2. It is now well settled by a serious of decisions of this Court including the decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Padmini v. State of Kerala (1993 (3) KLT 465), that an application for a building permit can be rejected only on the grounds enumerated in the provisions of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 or the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 1994. The reasons set out in Ext.P2 is not referrable either to the provisions of Section 402 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 or Rule 12 of the Kerala Municipality Building Rules, 1994. It is only in cases where the land is already notified for acquisition that a building permit can be declined. The mere fact that a W.P.(C) No.4509 of 2010 2 portion of the land is likely to be acquired in future is not a reason to withhold a building permit. I am therefore persuaded to hold that the stand taken by the Secretary, Thalassery Municipality in Ext.P2 cannot be sustained. I accordingly quash Ext.P2 and dispose of the writ petition with a direction to the second respondent to consider the application for building permit submitted by the petitioner and take an appropriate decision thereon, in accordance with law expeditiously, and in any event, within one month from the date on which she produces a copy of this judgment before the second respondent. The petitioner shall pay the requisite fee, if any, on being informed of the same by the Secretary of the Municipality. P.N.RAVINDRAN, Judge. nj.