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1989 Supreme(AP) 564
Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : RAMANUJULU NAIDU
Shaheen Begum - Appellant
Versus
Commissioner of Land Revenue and Urban Land Ceilings, Government Of A.P., Hyderabad - Respondent
W.P. No. 2725/89
Decided On : 12-20-89
Advocates Appeared :
Mr. T. Dasaratharamayya
Headnote:URBAN LAND (CEILING AND (REGULATION) ACT, 1976 (ACT, 33 OF 1976) Sections 2, 6 and 9 - Computation of surplus land in the hands of the declarant - (a) Water logged area cannot be treated as vacant land, (b) Buildings and Structures whether authorised or unauthorised entitled to the statutory allowance, (C) Servant quarters - Liable to be reckoned for allowance - Swimming pool is building within the meaning of the Act.
Held : (a) It follows that even assuming that the land is question could be utilised for playground/park under the Green Belt Programme, as suggested by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, the same cannot be treated as vacant land for the purpose of the Act.
(b) Once there are structures put up by the declarant before the Act came into force, the declarant would be entitled to the statutory allowance irrespective of the fact whether the structures are authorised or u nauthorised.
(C) Under the Act subject to Sec.4 [9], ceiling is imposed on vacant land. Building and land appurtenant thereto are excluded from the purview of vacant land under S. 2 (q) of the Act. The words vacant land indicate that the building [i.e., rooted structure] and things which go with, or, are part of building are excluded from the purview of the Act, i.e., these are included in the term building .
( 1 ) THIS is a petition filed under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India for issue of a writ of mandamus of any other appropriate writ or order or direction declaring the order dated 1-10-1987, passed by the 2nd respondent, declaring 6,077-49 square Meters of land as surplus holding in the hands of each of the petitioners under S. 9 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (Act No. 33 of 1976), hereinafter referred to as the Act , and the order dated 14-12-1988, passed by the 1st respondent, affirming the order of the 2nd respondent, as unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary.
( 2 ) THE facts giving rise to the filing of the above writ petition do not admit of any controversy and may be briefly stated : The petitioners, four in number, are co-sharers of three different properties, more fully set out in the declaration submitted by them under S. 6 (1) of the Act. Of the three different properties in respect of which the declaration was submitted, two are vacant lands, situate at Yellareddyguda and Karvan Graveyards. The first property, bearing Municipal Nos. 8-3-948 and 949, situate at Ameerpet, consists of two buildings, two sheds, three quarters intended for servants, one garage and one swimming pool. The surplus holding in respect of the first property, determined by the 2nd respondent in 5,673-63 Square Meters. The total extent of the second property, covered by Survey No. 14 of Yellareddyguda, is 20,639-10 Square Meters. The whole of it was determined by the 2nd respondent as surplus land in the hands of all the petitioners put together. The third property was excluded from the holding of the petitioners on the ground that it was wakf property. The order passed by the 2nd respondent was mechanically confirmed by the 1st respondent,
( 3 ) AGGRIEVED by the same, the above writ petition was filed.
( 4 ) SRI T. Dasaradharamayya, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners, submits that both the respondents were in error in not granting to the petitioners various allowances permitted under the Act in respect of various structures forming part of the first property and that both the authorities below also committed an error in treating the second property, situate at Yellareddyguda as vacant land.
( 5 ) I shall not deal with the property situate at Yellareddyguda. As already stated, this property is 20,630-10 Square Meters in extent. It is the definite case of the petitioners that the entire land is water-logged, that no constructions on the said land are permissible, that in fact permission sought from the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad for raising structures on the said land was refused and that the same should not be treated as vacant land. Reliance is placed on the letter dated 28-4-1982, addressed to the petitioners by Bhagyanagar Urban Development Authority, now known as Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, in response to their application dated 16-4-1988 and the contents of the letter may be usefully extracted :"with reference to your application cited, I am to state that the site in respect of S. No. 14 of Yellareddyguda, Hyderabad, falls in water stagnated area (pits) as per the existing land use plan for Zone No. IV. " Reliance is also placed upon the following communication dated 1-2-1983, addressed by the Special Officer of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to the petitioners in response to their application dated 28-4-1982 seeking permission for raising constructions on the land in question: "with reference to your application above cited, I am to inform you that the site in respect of S. No. 14 of Yellareddyguda falls in water stagnated area as per the existing land use plan for Zone No. IV. In the light of the orders in Lr. of B. D. A. , bearing No. 3703/pd-II/bda/82, dated 28-4-1982, the permission for building construction in S. No. 14 of Yellareddyguda, cannot be granted as the said land being the water logged throughout the year and there is no provision to out le
