Bombay High Court Ajay Gupta And Others vs State Of Maharashtra And Others on 24 July, 2012 PNP 1/19 WP87424.7.sxw ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.874 OF 2012 Ajay Gupta and others ..Petitioners. versus State of Maharashtra and others ..Respondents. ..... Mr. J.P. Cama, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sanjay Udeshi, Ms. Pallavi Deshia and Mr. Mahesh Londhe i/b M/s. Sanjay Udeshi & Co. for the Petitioners. Mr. D.A. Nalavade, GP for Respondent No.1. Mr. C.J. Joy with Mr. G. Hariharan i/b Dr. T.C. Kaushik for Respondent No.2. Ms. Kavita Anchan i/b M/s. M.V. Kini & Co. for Respondents 3 and 4. Mr. Ashutosh M. Kulkarni with Mr. Vaibhav Gaikwad for Respondent No.5. ...... CORAM : DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD, and R.D.DHANUKA, JJ. 24 July 2012. ORAL JUDGMENT (PER DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD, J.) : Rule, by consent made returnable forthwith. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Respondents waive service on behalf of the respective Respondents. By consent, the Petition is taken up for hearing and final disposal. 2. Air India, during the period when a proposal to set up an airport at Navi Mumbai was under consideration, had submitted a proposal to CIDCO for the allotment of land on which it would construct staff quarters for its employees. Initially a plot of land (Plot No.24 admeasuring 1,00,021.60 sq. mtrs. in Sector 27 of Nerul) was allotted to Air India. On 30 January 1992 an agreement to lease was executed by CIDCO in favour of Air India. The land was allotted on a concessional lease premium of Rs.750/ per sq. mtr. amounting to Rs.7.50 Crores. Air India being an organisation of the Central Government, such an ::: Downloaded on 09/06/2013 18:51:06 ::: PNP 2/19 WP87424.7.sxw allotment was permissible under the policy of CIDCO as approved by the State Government. The lease agreement envisaged that for a period of four years Air India would have a licence to enter upon the land; that the agreement would not constitute a demise of the land and that eventually a lease would be granted upon a certification by the Town Planning Officer that buildings had been erected by Air India in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The lease was to be executed for a period of sixty years. Clause 7A of the agreement stipulated that the terms under which CIDCO had agreed to execute a lease in favour of Air India were governed inter alia by the New Bombay Disposal of Lands Regulations 1975 for the time being in force. Clause 7A provided as follows : "7A. It is hereby agreed and declared between the parties hereto that the Corporation has agreed to lease the said land to the Licensee and the Licensee has agreed to have such lease upon the terms and conditions contained herein and subject to Section 118 and other applicable provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (Maharashtra Act XXXVII of 1966) and rules and regulations made thereunder including the New Bombay Disposal of Lands Regulations 1975 for the time being in force." 3. The buildings which were to be constructed on the plot of land were to be used by Air India only for accommodating the members of its staff and could not be sold either individually or to a cooperative housing society of the employees without the prior permission of CIDCO. In an affidavit filed in the earlier proceedings by CIDCO, it has been sta