Case: Jaykrishna Industries Ltd. Through Director &amp; Others Vs. State of Maharashtra &amp; Others

2. The present batch of appeals, between the same parties, arise from a controversy relating to auction settlement by the Mumbai Housing and Area Development Board (hereinafter referred to as, of a plot of land measuring 10,000 sq. mtrs, located at Powai, in the town of Mumbai. The auction notice published on 17.11.2004, remains inconclusive, mired in litigation. The subsequent developments being relevant are also required to be noticed. The contesting parties, M/s.Popcorn Properties Private Limited and M/s. Jaykrishna Industries Ltd., shall hereinafter be referred to as the Appellant and Respondent for convenience.

Reasoning: 9. The claim of the Respondent for settlement of a government property by way of a private largesse, without open advertisement, is completely unfounded in the law. Its letter dated 30.06.1999 requesting for a sympathetic consideration for settlement with it, as otherwise the property was likely to be occupied by encroachers, is but a travesty of the law. Apparently, the negotiations were done by MHADA under political influence as evident from the letter of the Respondent dated 29.11.2004 read with the letter dated 30.04.2005 of one Mr. Mohan Rawle, Member of Parliament. The Respondent had not submitted any bid in response to the advertisement. The order of the High Court dated 23.12.2004 was passed in absence of the Court being apprised of the provisional acceptance of thebid. The plea that the Respondent was never made aware of the order of cancellation dated 22.02.2000 merits no consideration as it was also revealed in the counter affidavit of the State of Maharashtra dated 11.07.2005 in Writ Petition No. 2112 of 2005. The cancellation order was addressed to MHADA and copy marked to the Respondent. There shall be a presumption in law that a government communication was properly made and reached the addressee, under Section 114 (e) of the Indian Evidence Act. It is not the case of the Respondent that the order never came to be issued and remained in the file. The Respondent despite awareness never challenged the cancellation and which sets at naught its entire claim. Any offer made to the Respondent in teeth of, and after the cancellation was therefore redundant.The change in permissible land usage by Resolution No.6684 dated 20.10.2014 is a fundamental issue which goes to the root of the matter. If the very substratum of the advertisement has changed, a fresh tender is mandatory. The passage of thirteen long years since the advertisement is also an important consideration. The Notification dated 03.07.2017 issued under DCR Regulation 33(5) inter alia altering the FSI is at the final stage awaiting publication. The bid price today for that reason will also escalate considerably. The State Government and MHADA have denied any fresh negotiated settlement with the Appellant. The interim order of this Court dated 04.09.2014 was not a carte blanche for a mandatory settlement with the Appellant. The High Court has noticed that the value of the property today would be approximately 75 crores. In the land starved city of Mumbai, the settlement of any government land, for a housing project, has to be by public auction only, so as to fetch the best price in the larger public interest.