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Judgment
Jyothimaniw, J.—While W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 has been filed challenging the order of the fourth Respondent dated 13.5.2010, by which
the fourth Respondent has refused to grant No Objection Certificate in respect of Survey Nos. 646/2J and 647/1D to an extent of 0.79.0
Hectares on the basis that the larger extent of land is required for acquisition in respect of sewerage scheme, for which proposal has been sent, and
also for a direction to issue No Objection Certificate in respect of Survey Nos. 647/1D and 647/2J, Vellaloor Village, Coimbatore South Taluk,
W.P. No. 1242 of 2011 is filed for a direction against the fourth Respondent to issue No Objection Certificate for development of the lands
comprised in Survey Nos. 643/1C, 645/1, 645/2, 646/2M and 643/1B, Vellaloor Village, Coimbatore Taluk by the Petitioner.
2.1. The Petitioners in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 own dry lands in Vellaloor Village, Coimbatore South Taluk in Survey No. 647/1D measuring
0.61.00 Hectares and Survey No. 647/2J measuring 0.18.00 Hectares and the Petitioner in W.P. No. 1242 of 2011, which is a Trust, owns lands
in Survey No. 643/1C measuring 1.07 Acres, Survey No. 645/1 measuring 3.40 Acres, Survey No. 645/2 measuring 1.185 Acres, Survey No.
646/2M measuring 1.96 Acres and Survey No. 643/1B measuring 0.22 Acres and the patta in respect of the said lands stands in the name of the
Trust.
2.2. In order to develop the lands, the Petitioners have applied to the fourth Respondent on 9.4.2010 and 18.6.2010 respectively for issuance of
No Objection Certificate and the development was for the purpose of establishing an educational institution and the No Objection Certificate was
required since the lands were classified as dry lands.
2.3. It is stated that in spite of the Revenue Inspector stating that there is no objectionable feature for issuing such No Objection Certificate in
respect of the lands in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010, the fourth Respondent has passed the impugned order stating that acquisition of lands for
Coimbatore Corporation Sewerage Farm is pending and the proposal has been sent to the Government. The said order has been challenged on
various grounds, including that the fourth Respondent has no authority to deny issuance of No Objection Certificate on the basis of a proposal sent
nine years ago, which is stated to be pending with the Corporation; that an extent of 530.29 Acres of land was acquired at Vellaloor Village for
drinking water project and out of the same land measuring 225 Acres was utilised and an extent of 53.17 Acres has been handed over to some
other department and an extent of 278.17 Acres remains unutilized and therefore, the proposal for acquisition is not genuine.
3.1. It is stated in the counter affidavit filed by the fourth Respondent in these writ petitions that the Municipal Corporation of Coimbatore was in
need of certain lands for formation of sewerage farm and requested for acquiring the lands and the lands, including the Petitioners lands which were
kept idle, were proposed for such acquisition and proposal was sent by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Coimbatore dated 25.8.2003 for issuance
of notification u/s 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act. A proposal was sent by the District Revenue Officer, Coimbatore to the Special Commissioner
and Commissioner of Land Administration, Chennai for publication in the gazette and additional particulars were also furnished and therefore, the
entire action is in progress for the purpose of issuance of gazette notification u/s 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act shortly and at this stage, the No
Objection Certificate cannot be granted.
3.2. It is stated that when the earlier request of the first Petitioner in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 was turned down on 13.5.2010, he filed W.P. No.
17419 of 2010, which was dismissed on 29.9.2010 as infructuous, however with liberty to challenge any order that may be passed and now that
the fourth Respondent has passed the order, the present writ petitions have been filed.
3.3. It is stated that there is a legal infirmity, in the sense that the first Petitioner in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 has already sold away part of his lands
on 18.1.2010 and therefore, he has no legal right to apply for the No Objection Certificate on 9.4.2010. It is also stated that the second writ
Petitioner in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 has sought No Objection Certificate in respect of Survey Nos. 647/1D and 647/2J, whereas initially the
No Objection Certificate was sought in respect of Survey Nos. 647/1D and 646/2J. In any event, it is stated that inasmuch as the entire process of
acquisition is in motion, the impugned order is perfectly in order and the Petitioners are not entitled to the relief claimed in these writ petitions.
It is seen that in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010, the Revenue Inspector, on enquiry, has found that there is no impediment for granting No Objection
Certificate as there is no heritage building in the said lands, there is no possibility for damage by floods, there is no high tension wire running over
the land, and the lands are not attracted by the Land Ceiling Act, and that was by his report dated 30.4.2010.
Admittedly, as on date, the acquisition proceedings have not been initiated and no notification u/s 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act has been
issued. The mere issuance of No Objection Certificate is certainly not a bar for the Government for acquiring the land for public purposes under
the Land Acquisition Act and the future proposal of acquisition cannot certainly be a ground for denying No Objection Certificate.
While dealing with Section 36 of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 35 of 1972), which enables the
acquisition of land required or reserved or designated in the regional plan, in a case where no steps were taken for the purpose of acquisition in
respect of the places earmarked as ""open space"", I have held in K.S. Kamakshi Chetty, P. Ponnappan, P. Dharmarajan and P. Shivakumar Vs.
The Commissioner, Aruppukottai Municipality and The Director, Town and Country Planning, , that when no acquisition proceedings were taken
for three years after the notification, the property is deemed to be released from such reservation in view of Section 38 of the Tamil Nadu Town
and Country Planning Act, 1971.
It has been also the established judicial precedent that even in respect of the development plans covering the private lands, unless the lands
concerned are acquired for development, viz., for the purpose of providing amenities to the residents, etc., no proceedings can be initiated, as it
was held by this Court in Sams Axis City Promoters Private Limited v. Member Secretary, Trichirapalli and Ors. 2008 8 MLJ 994, by following a
series of judgments, including that which has been reported in Casa Grande Private Limited Vs. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
(CMDA), .
On the facts of the present case, admittedly, there are no acquisition proceedings as on date and when once the Revenue Inspector, after
inspection, has found that there is no impediment for issuing No Objection Certificate, the reason assigned by the fourth Respondent in W.P. No.
25424 of 2010 that some proposal for acquisition in respect of Sewerage Scheme is pending is certainly not a ground to deny issuance of No
Objection Certificate. Likewise, in W.P. No. 1242 of 2011, a proposal has been sent and the same is pending at that stage and inasmuch as no
acquisition proceedings are initiated as on date, there is no impediment on the part of the fourth Respondent from issuing No Objection Certificate
for the purpose of development of the lands. Even after issuance of No Objection Certificate, the power of the Government in acquiring property
for a scheme is not taken away.
In such view of the matter, giving liberty to the Government to initiate acquisition proceedings as and when required, the writ petitions stand
allowed and the impugned order in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 stands set aside and the matter is remanded to the fourth Respondent with a
direction to the fourth Respondent to grant No Objection Certificate, if there are no other legal impediments, and such order shall be passed within
eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. No costs. Consequently, M.P. No. 1 of 2010 in W.P. No. 25424 of 2010 is closed.