Kachchh Christian Charitable Trust vs State of Gujarat and Others

M.R. Shah, J.—By way of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the Petitioner-Charitable Trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act has prayed for an appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the impugned communication dated 10/08/2010 passed by Respondent No. 3 and the decision reflected therein (Anneuxre - E to the petition) rejecting the construction permission of the Petitioner-Trust.

The facts leading to the present Special Civil Application in nutshell are as under;

2.1. The Petitioner-Trust applied to the State Government for allotment of the land, out of the land bearing Survey No. 870 paiki situated at Bhuj for construction of primary school and pre-primary school and the same came to be considered favourably and the Petitioner-Trust was allotted/granted 1538 sq meters of land on lease for a period of 30 years (renewable) at a token rent of Rs. 1/- and the Petitioner-Trust also came to be allotted/granted 553 sq meters of the land on outright sale at the rate of Rs. 10/- per sq meter for construction of the building of primary school and pre-primary school. The Collector, Kutch passed an order dated 30/10/2009 allotting/granting the land as stated hereinabove on permanent basis/lease on certain terms and conditions. It appears that thereafter as the Petitioner wanted to put up construction the Petitioner-Trust submitted an appropriate application before the Bhuj Area Development Authority to sanction the plan and grant permission to the Petitioner-Trust to put up construction of primary school and pre-primary school. However, the said application has been turned out by the Chief Executive Officer, Bhuj Area Development Authority vide communication dated 10/08/2010 on the ground that as per Clause 12.2(b) of the GDCR the minimum area for construction of the primary school required is 1000 sq meter. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the aforesaid communication the Petitioner-Trust has preferred the present Special Civil Application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

3 Shri Anjaria, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the Petitioner has submitted that as such the land granted to the Petitioner on lease was also required to be considered as building Unit and if the same is considered, in that case, it would be exceeding the permissible required land. It is submitted that as such by not granting permission as prayed for, the purpose for which the permission is granted i.e. for construction of primary school and pre-primary school shall be frustrated. It is submitted that as such the Petitioner-Trust is ready and willing to submit another application before the State Government/Collector, Bhuj to allot some more land on ownership basis over and above 533 sq meters i.e. out of the land, which has been leased in favour of the Petitioner so that the total area of the land allotted to the Petitioner on ownership basis exceeds 1000 sq meters. It is submitted that if such an application is made, the same may be directed to be considered by the State Government/Collector accordingly and in light of the earlier order dated 30/10/2009 passed by the Collector, Bhuj as well as the order passed by the State Government, Revenue Department, State of Gujarat dated 24/09/2009 so that the purpose for which the land has been allotted to the Petitioner is achieved.

In view of the above, the present Special Civil Application is disposed of by relegating the Petitioner to submit an appropriate application before the State Government/Collector, Bhuj for allotment of some additional land on ownership basis (over and above 553 sq meters of land, which is already allotted earlier) on the terms and conditions as per the policy of the State Government. As and when such an application/representation is made, State Government/Collector, Kutch-Bhuj is hereby directed to consider the same in its true spirit considering the earlier orders dated 24/09/2009 passed by the State Government, Revenue Department, State of Gujarat and 30/10/2009 passed by the Collector, Kutch-Bhuj so as to see that the purpose for which the land is allotted to the Petitioner vide aforesaid orders i.e. for the purpose of construction of building of primary/pre-primary school is not frustrated. The aforesaid exercise shall be completed within a period of four months from the date of receipt of such representation/application and the outcome of the same shall be communicated to the Petitioner.

With this, the present Special Civil Application is disposed of.

Direct service is permitted.