Important judgment of the Supreme Court for acquisition of reserved land within the time limit

- People-oriented guidance - H.S. Patel IAS (Retd.)

- Implementation of TP provisions is required for well-planned development

With the spread of urbanization, well-planned development means that Town Planning Act-18 is in force in Gujarat and Regional Town Planning Act is in force in Maharashtra. The peculiarity of this town planning is that the land allotted in the zone in the master development plan for different public purposes is acquired by the appropriate authority i.e. the Urban Development Authority or the concerned corporation without following the process of land acquisition through TP. First of all, according to the provisions of this Act, the master development plan of the area concerned i.e. the 'land use' plan is prepared for a period of ten years and in large scale - reserves of lands for various public purposes such as roads, poor class housing, banks, schools etc. (Reserved) and this Master Development Plan is finally approved by the Urban Development Department of the State Government after various consultation processes. Lands reserved for this public purpose if TP. Under the scheme, if not finalized, the land acquisition process has to be followed by proper compensation and if such process is not carried out in time, the purpose of acquisition is canceled. As no action was taken for 10 years in this acquisition, Bhikhubhai Patel of Surat v. In the case of Gujarat State 2009 (2) GLR-121, the land reserved for the purpose of South Gujarat University was acquired for ten years and not used again and included in the master development plan of ten years. The entire proceedings were declared Ultra Vires and canceled for failure to use.

In the same way in Gujarat, the way TP. A similar Regional Town Planning Act-18 is being implemented in Maharashtra as is Act-13 and a case similar to the said South Gujarat University of Surat has been filed by Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust and others against the State of Maharashtra. No. 303/2017 An important judgment dated 3-6-2016 stipulates that the reservation was canceled due to non-completion of land acquisition process in time and the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Maharashtra High Court. In the above case, according to the old Land Acquisition Act - 2016 which is currently in force, the land included in the master development plan has to be acquired. The previous acquisition law had a provision that once the preliminary declaration is published under section 3, if the final declaration of section 4 is not published within the time limit of one year, the declaration of section 4 will be automatically declared void. The Naveen-2013 Act empowers the state government to extend the one-year period, citing reasons beyond its control. Which will increase the duration of the acquisition process. Due to this situation, in most cases, the period of one year between the declaration of section 11 (1) and the declaration of section 12 (1) cannot be observed. Thus this applies to matters of acquisition of lands reserved for public purpose in the Master Development Plan. While in the case of Surat South Gujarat University mentioned above, the judgment of Gujarat High Court is that the powers reserved in the 10 year master development plan are limited. However, even in the case of the master development plan, in the cases of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, the Supreme Court has also given directions to maintain the time limit.

From the perspective of Gujarat, TP In the provisions of the Act, especially after the preparation of the master development plan, T.P. The scheme is not final and due to which the lands which should be given to the authority board for public purpose do not take place. Secondly, in the current New Acquisition Act-2016, along with the lengthy process of acquisition, along with paying multiple compensation amount, Social Impact Study also becomes a study of social effects. However, when Amo was the Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara Municipal Corporation, the state government was given TP. By amending the Act, the Corporation or the Urban Development Authority will be given a draft TP. At the stage of the Act, it is recommended to amend the provision for possession of land for road or public purpose, which would enable the present authorities to get land for immediate road purpose. Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority P. Ring road spaces are also TP. Retrieved from the provisions of the Act. Through this article, the decision of the aforesaid High Court and the Supreme Court to cancel the reservation of private owners whose land has been reserved in the master development plan and has not been acquired within the time limit. Similarly, provisions for acquisition of lands for public purpose are important for local bodies such as Municipal Corporation / Urban Development Authority as part of fulfilling their legal responsibilities and for well-planned development.