IMPORTANT POINT
Subsequent SLP upon withdrawal of earlier SLP without liberty to assail the impugned order in case of failure of review petition - whether maintainable.
SLP against order rejecting review petition - whether maintainable.

ORDER

A. K. Patnaik, J. These are appeals by way of special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution against the orders of the Bombay High Court at Goa dismissing Civil Writ Petition No. 253 of 1999 and Civil Review Petition No. 17 of 2000.

2. The facts very briefly are that the respondent no. 8 was served with a show-cause notice dated 26.11.1996 by the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (for short ‘the Authority’). In the show-cause notice, it was alleged that the respondent no. 8 had constructed a residential bungalow on a land in Survey No.250/12 without the prior permission of the Authority as required under Section 44 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974 (for short ‘the Act’). It was also alleged in the show-cause notice that there was no proper access road to the property as required under the Act and that the construction was within a distance of 100 Mtrs. from Zuari river and was in breach of the Coastal Regulation Zone notification issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. By the show-cause notice, the respondent no.8 was asked to show-cause why action should not be initiated under Section 52 of the Act for demolition of the construction. By a communication dated 10.12.1996, the Town Planner of the Authority also informed the Chief Officer, Panaji Municipal Council, that the respondent no. 8 had obtained permission from the Municipal Council to make the construction on the land in Survey No. 250/12, Village Taleigao, by misrepresenting the facts and, therefore, the permission may be revoked. Thereafter, a notice dated 18.11.1997 was issued by the Municipal Council to the respondent no. 8 directing him to stop the construction work immediately and to show-cause why the licence granted to him for the construction of the building on the land in Survey. No. 250/12 of Taleigao Village should not be revoked.

3. The appellant also filed Writ Petition No. 253 of 1999 before the Bombay High Court at Goa alleging that the structure made by the respondent no. 8 on the land in Survey No.250/12 in Village Taleigao contravenes the provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification dated 19.02.1991 inasmuch as it was within 100 Mtrs. from the river Zuari in Costal Regulation Zone (CRZ) III area. The High Court called for a report from the Director of National Institute of Oceanography after inspection of the property of the respondent no.8 and a Senior Technical Officer of the National Institute of Oceanography submitted a report dated 24.01.2000 saying that the structure in question was not within 100 Mtrs. of the High Tide Line (HTL). After perusing the report, the High Court dismissed the writ petition by order dated 29.01.2000

4. Aggrieved, the appellant filed Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution against the order dated 29.01.2000 of the Bombay High Court at Goa dismissing the writ petition. When the Special Leave Petition was taken up for hearing by a three-Judge Bench on 22.11.2000, a submission was made on behalf of the appellant before the Court that the appellant had filed a Review Petition before the High Court and that the learned counsel for the appellant had instructions to withdraw the Special Leave Petition and the Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition as withdrawn. Thereafter, the High Court took up the hearing of the Review Petition and rejected the Review Petition by order dated 06.12.2000.

5. When the appeals were taken up for hearing, a preliminary issue was raised on behalf of the respondent no.8 that the Civil Appeals by way of Special Leave Petition were not maintainable. According to the learned counsel for the respondent no.8, the appeal against the order dated 29.01.2000 of the High Court in Writ Petition No. 253 of 1999 is not maintainable as the appellant had earlier challenged the said order before this Court in a Special Leave Petition, but had withdrawn the same and, therefore, the order dated 29.01.2000 of the High Court dismissing Writ