Bombay High Court Orders Release of Land from Reservation, Criticizes Authority's Inaction.


08 April 2025 Property Law >> Personal Law  

In Sunil Laxman Dond & Others v/s The Commissioner, Nashik Municipal Corporation & Others., the Bombay High Court has ruled in favor of petitioners seeking the release of their land in Nashik from a long-standing reservation in the development plan. The court declared the reservation as lapsed due to the Nashik Municipal Corporation's (NMC) failure to initiate acquisition proceedings within the statutory 12-month period following the service of a purchase notice in 2014.

The petitioners, owners of land in village Chehedi Budruk, had served a purchase notice under Section 127 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (MRTP Act) after the NMC failed to acquire their land, reserved for a school since the 1990s, for over two decades. Despite acknowledging the notice and engaging in correspondence where they offered Transferable Development Rights (TDR) as compensation (which the petitioners refused), the NMC did not initiate the land acquisition process within the legally mandated timeframe that expired in March 2015.


 

 

Subsequently, the NMC attempted to impose fresh reservations (Nos. 473 and 474) on the same land in a revised development plan notified in 2017. However, the High Court, relying on established legal precedent, held that this fresh reservation could not override the statutory right that had already accrued to the landowners due to the initial lapse.

The court found the NMC's contention regarding the defectiveness of the purchase notice to be an afterthought, noting that the authority had not raised any such objections in their initial responses or subsequent correspondences. The court also reiterated the legal position that the non-submission of certain documents along with the purchase notice does not automatically invalidate it.

Drawing parallels with a similar case involving adjacent land from the same survey number where the High Court had already ruled in favor of the landowners (a decision upheld by the Supreme Court), the bench directed the State Government to issue a notification under Section 127(2) of the MRTP Act, formally declaring the lapsing of the reservation on the petitioners' land. This notification must be published in the Official Gazette within six weeks.

The court also emphasized that, as per previous rulings, a formal declaration from the court is not strictly necessary for the reservation to be deemed lapsed. However, citizens are often compelled to file such petitions due to the inaction of the authorities. The court urged the State Government to issue directives to prevent such unnecessary litigation.

Ultimately, the High Court made the rule absolute in favor of the petitioners, effectively directing the release of their land from the reservation and allowing them to proceed with its development in accordance with the law.


Section 127, MAHARASHTRA REGIONAL AND TOWN PLANNING ACT - 1966  

MAHARASHTRA REGIONAL AND TOWN PLANNING ACT, 1966