Shanti Sports Club & Anr vs Union Of India & Ors

4. The acquisitions made in furtherance of other notifications were also challenged by the land holders and other affected persons. C.W.P. No.963/1980 filed by one Ved Prakash was dismissed by the High Court. However, the special leave petition was entertained by this Court and leave was granted.

6. The land which is subject matter of these appeals was acquired vide notification dated 23.1.1965. Declaration under Section 6 was published on 23.12.1968, notices under Sections 9 and 10 were issued in 1976 and the award was made on 22.12.1980.

8. While the writ petition filed by Shri Amrit Lal Khanna was pending, Shri Satish Khosla (appellant No.2 in one of the appeals) got registered a company in the name and style of Shanti India Private Limited under the Companies Act, 1956 and a society in the name of Shanti Sports Club under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Between 1990-1993, Shri Satish Khosla appears to have entered into some arrangement/agreement with Shri Amrit Lal Khanna and other land owners and got possession of land bearing khasra Nos.35, 369/36, 37, 38, 367/21 and 365/33 of Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, Delhi which had already been acquired by the Central Government. Thereafter, he got constructed complex over the acquired land in the name of appellant No.1 without even making an application to the competent authority for sanction of the building plan. He did so because he knew that if an application for sanction of the building plan was to be made, the same would be rejected in view of the prohibition contained in Section 3 of the Delhi Lands (Restrictions on Transfer) Act, 1972 (for short `the 1972 Act') against transfer of the acquired land and the concerned authorities may stall the clandestine construction activities.

10. At this stage, it is appropriate to note that before filing W.P. No.4777/1993, Shri Satish Khosla got filed two suits for injunction. The first suit bearing No.3318/1991 was filed on 29.10.1991 in the name of Shanti India Private Limited with the prayer that DDA be restrained from digging the land or constructing gates on the road leading to Shanti Garden. In that suit, it was pleaded that the plaintiff is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956; that it purchased 38 bighas 13 biswas of land comprising in khasra Nos.35, 369/36, 37, 38, 367/21 and 365/33 situated in Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, Delhi and floated Shanti Sports Club of India which formed a cricket academy with a view to provide cricketing facility for its members. It was then averred that on 28.10.1991, DDA started digging a road, which runs from Andheria Modh to Airport with a view to raise a wall for blocking the entire road and rendering the suit property inaccessible. Along with the suit, the plaintiff filed an application for temporary injunction. By order dated 4.1.1992, the Court permitted DDA to raise the wall without obstructing the plaintiff's access to the suit property. In the second suit bearing No.1544/1993 which was filed on 13.7.1993, appellant No.2 herein joined S/Shri Atma Ram and Amrit Lal Khanna as plaintiffs and prayed that DDA be restrained from dispossessing them or interfering with their possession or demolishing or sealing any part of existing structure. The subject matter of second suit was identical to the one for which earlier suit had been instituted. In the plaint, all the plaintiffs were described as owners of the property measuring 38 bighas 13 biswas and it was pleaded that a sports club in the name of Shanti Sports Club of India was built by plaintiff No.3, Shri Satish Khosla. It was alleged that officers of the DDA have demolished certain structures in Village Kishangarh on 29.6.1993 and threatened to demolish the suit property. In the second suit also an order of injunction was passed on 15.7.1993.

11. After filing Writ Petition No.4777/1993, Shri Satish Khosla instituted third suit bearing No.2865/1995 in his own name and that of Shri Amrit Lal Khanna claiming that they were Bhumidars of khasra Nos.35, 369/36 and 37 of Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, Delhi, total measuring 26 bighas 6 biswas; that the suit property was surrounded by a boundary wall with an iron gate; that plaintiff No.1-Satish Khosla floated the Shanti Sports Club which runs a cricket academy for its members and that the officers of the DDA have threatened to demolish the boundary wall and take forcible possession of an area of about 250 sq. yds. on the pretext that it formed part of khasra Nos.460, 368 and 36, which was earmarked for construction of a dispensary. In the third suit, the court passed an order of temporary injunction on 12.12.1995 restraining DDA from dispossessing the plaintiffs or demolishing the boundary wall.

23. In the concluding part of its order, the Division Bench took cognizance of written statement filed by Satish Khosla, President of Club in Suit No.3064/1996 titled as M/s Eli Lilly Ranbaxy Limited and others v. Satish Khosla wherein, the plaintiff had sought a decree of permanent injunction, restraining the defendant from letting out garden for functions and parties during the currency of lease agreement entered by and between M/s Eli Lilly Ranbaxy Limited and Shri Satish Khosla in respect of cottage No.6. The Division Bench noted that in paragraphs 4, 6 and 11 of the written statement, the defendant had unequivocally given out that the premises are being used not only for sporting activities but for wedding parties, birthday parties and other festive occasions and cottages constructed in the premises were being given to the affluent parties like the plaintiff, several diplomats including Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan, Ambassador of Kazakastan, that huge rent and other charges were being collected by the defendant from the plaintiff which ran into lacs of rupees and opined that the claim of the petitioner that the complex was being used for recreation of the members only was fallacious.

Thus it is of the essence that the order has to be communicated to the person who would be affected by that order before the State and that person can be bound by that order. For, until the order is communicated to the person affected by it, it would be open to the Council of Ministers to consider the matter over and over again and, therefore, till its communication the order cannot be regarded as anything more than provisional in character. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the remarks or the order of the Revenue Minister, PEPSU are of no avail to the appellant."

[emphasis added]

53. Unfortunately, despite repeated judgments by the this Court and High Courts, the builders and other affluent people engaged in the construction activities, who have, over the years shown scant respect for regulatory mechanism envisaged in the municipal and other similar laws, as also the master plans, zonal development plans, sanctioned plans etc., have received encouragement and support from the State apparatus. As and when the courts have passed orders or the officers of local and other bodies have taken action for ensuring rigorous compliance of laws relating to planned development of the cities and urban areas and issued directions for demolition of the illegal/unauthorized constructions, those in power have come forward to protect the wrong doers either by issuing administrative orders or enacting laws for regularization of illegal and unauthorized constructions in the name of compassion and hardship. Such actions have done irreparable harm to the concept of planned development of the cities and urban areas. It is high time that the executive and political apparatus of the State take serious view of the menace of illegal and unauthorized constructions and stop their support to the lobbies of affluent class of builders and others, else even the rural areas of the country will soon witness similar chaotic conditions.

54. In the result, the appeals are dismissed. However, by taking note of the submission made by Shri Mukul Rohtagi that some time may be given to his clients to vacate the land, we deem it proper to grant thee months' time to the appellants to handover possession of the land to the concerned authority of DDA. This will be subject to the condition that within two weeks from today an affidavit is filed on behalf of the appellants by an authorised person that possession of the land will be handed over to DDA by 30 th November, 2009 and during this period no encumbrances whatsoever will be created by the appellants or their agents and that no compensation will be claimed for the construction already made. Needless to say that if the required undertaking is not filed, the concerned authorities of DDA shall be entitled to take possession of the land and, if necessary, take police help for that purpose. Contempt Petition Nos. 252-253 of 2001

55. We have dismissed the civil appeals by the above order. Hence, the contempt petitions are dismissed.