Pune Municipal Corporation vs State Of Maharashtra & Ors

The case has a checkered history and to appreciate rival contentions raised by the parties in their proper perspective, it would be appropriate to bear in mind the facts.

Pursuant to the above direction, final order came to be passed on April 25, 1977. After the final statement, a notification under sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the Act was issued on April 28, 1977 intimating the persons having interest in the land to prefer their claims to the Competent Authority either personally or through an agent within a period of 30 days from the date of publication of notification in the Official Gazette. The said notification was published in the Maharashtra Gazette on May 12, 1977. The case was fixed for hearing on June 23, 1977. On June 16, 1978, the Competent Authority issued notification under sub-section (3) of Section 10 of the Act declaring excess land to be acquired by the State. It was notified for the information of general public that the land specified in the Schedule appended thereto would be deemed to have been acquired by the Government of Maharashtra with effect from July 31, 1978 and would be deemed to have been vested in the Government of Maharashtra free from all encumbrances from that date. The said notification was published in the Official Gazette on August 24, 1978. Since the land stood vested in the State of Maharashtra free from all encumbrances, the appellant- Corporation made an application in August, 1978 for purchase of land declared to be excess land under the Act and stood vested in the State. The Competent Authority vide its letter dated January 8, 1979 offered the land to the appellant-Corporation for occupancy price of Rs.1,45,000/- for Development Plan Reservation, Pune Municipal Corporation. In the said communication, it was stated that the terms and conditions subject to which the land was offered, were enclosed in the form of Agreement. If those terms and conditions were acceptable to the Corporation, the latter was required to execute the Agreement with the Collector of Pune and to pay occupancy price by challan.

An order was passed on August 23, 1979 by the Appellate Authority on the appeal filed by the land- owners under Section 33 of the Act. It was stated that the appeal was against the notification under Section 10(5) of the Act, but such appeal was not maintainable. The Appellate Authority, therefore, summarily dismissed the appeal by inter alia observing as under:

Having given anxious consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case in the light of statutory provisions, in our opinion, the appeal deserves to be allowed.

Provided that no such order shall be made except after giving the person affected a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.

He further states:

For the foregoing reasons, in our opinion, the order passed by the Revisional Authority and confirmed by the High Court is liable to be set aside and is hereby set aside. The matter is now remitted to the Revisional Authority for taking fresh decision in accordance with law after hearing the parties, including the Corporation. It is open to all the parties to raise all contentions available to them. It goes without saying that all proceedings taken in pursuance of the order passed in revision are of no consequence and no effect can be given to them. We may clarify that we have not entered into correctness or otherwise of the allegations and counter- allegations and we may not be understood to have expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter. As and when the Revisional Authority will take up the matter for consideration, it will decide the same without being influenced by the observations made by the High Court as also by us. The appeal is accordingly allowed with costs.