Back
High Court of Judicature at Bombay
MOHIT S. SHAH & GIRISH GODBOLE
Shri. Kesrinath Jagannath Patil & Others
Versus
The State of Maharashtra
WRIT PETITION NOS.3078 OF 2011, 4186 OF 2011, 2402 OF 2011 & 2399 OF 2011
Decided on : 08-07-2011
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners sought directions for the consideration of their application for conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land.Finding of the Court:
The court held that the Collector, Thane should consider the application on its merits, taking into account the no objection certificate issued by the respondent No. 4.Ratio Decidendi:
The court emphasized that the Collector should consider the application based on the provisions of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 and other relevant statutes/rules. Final Decision: The court quashed the communication rejecting the application and directed the Collector to consider the application and examine the stamp duty on the release deed. The relief sought for mutation entry was rejected.Key Points: - The Court directed the Collector, Thane to consider the NA conversion application on its merits under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 and related rules, taking into account the no-objection certificate from the superior holder (respondent No.4) (!) (!) (!) . - The Court instructed the Collector to examine the stamp duty legality of the Deed of Release under section 33 of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 and to act accordingly, with a compliance report to the Divisional Commissioner and State Government (including forwarding the instrument) (!) . - The Court clarified that the NA conversion application should be considered expeditiously (within 3 months) and that pendency of other writ petitions should not preclude consideration; ongoing petitions’ interim orders do not preclude processing this application, but no equities should be created in favor of the respondent No.4 (!) . - The petitioners’ reliefs for mutation and other requests were partially considered, with the impugned communication quashed and the Collector instructed to proceed; reliefs in prayer clause (b) were rejected (as to mutation) (!) (!) . - The Court stated that the present decision does not constitute an endorsement of the superior title claimed by respondent No.4 or resolve merits of related disputes, and explicitly states that the order does not bind regarding those merits (!) .
GirishGodbole, J.
Rule. By consent rule made returnable forthwith and the petition is taken up on board for hearing. The respective counsels for respondents waive service of Rule.
2. By the present Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners are seeking the following substantive reliefs in terms of prayer clauses (a) & (b) in paragraph-19:
“a) By an appropriate writ/order/direction of this Hon’ble court the Respondent No.2 be directed to consider the application dated 10/11/2011 (for N.A.permisson) filed by the petitioner in respect of suit property i.e. Land bearing Old Survey No.447, New Survey No.142, Hissa No. 4 admeasuring 4310 sq.meters situate lying and being at village Navghar Taluka and District Thane in the Registration District and Sub District Thane and now within the limits of Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation by following the procedure as laid down under the provisions of Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966.
(b) By an appropriate writ/order/direction of this Hon'ble court the Respondent No.3 be directed to consider the application dated 25/1/2010(for mutation in the 7/12 Extract) of the petitioner in respect of suit property i.e land bearing Old survey no.447, New Survey no.142, Hissa no.4 admeasuring 4310 sq.meters situate lying and being at village Navghar Taluka and District Thane in the Registration District and Sub District Thane and now within the limits of Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation in favour of the petitioner by following due process of law as laid down under the provisions of Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966.”
3. The case of the petitioners can be summarized as follows:
A) The Petitioners claim to be owners of land bearing Old Survey NO.447, new Survey No.142, Hissa No.4 admeasuring 4310 sq.meters situated at village Navghar, Taluka and District Thane within the limits of Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation.
B) By an agreement dated 15.4.1995 and Development Agreement dated 31.12.2007 and Deed of Confirmation dated 26.8.2008 the petitioners had agreed to sell their rights in the aforesaid land and other lands of the petitioners in favour of M/s Kanakia Spaces Pvt.Ltd and said M/s Kanakia Spaces Pvt.Ltd in turn executed Development Agreement dated 7.11.2010 and Deed of Confirmation dated 4.10.2008 in favour of M/s Strawberry Construction Pvt.Ltd. Respondent no.4 company was claiming to be a superior holder in respect of lands in revenue village Bhayandar, Mire and Ghodbunder and the said claim is made on the basis of a Deed of Indenture dated 7/11/1870 executed in favour of the precedessor in title of the respondent no.4 by the then Secretary of the State for Indian Council, followed by the deeds of assignment dated 15/2/1943 and 22/3/1945 executed in favour of the respondent no.4. In a dispute arising out of the mutation entries, the name of the respondent no.4 was removed from the occupant column of record of rights and was entered in other rights columns. Subsequently in proceeding under the Salesettee Estate (land Revenue Exemptions and Abolition) Act 1951 an order dated 28/1/1989 was passed by the Resident Deputy Collector, Thane and subsequently the Revenue Minster of Government of Maharashtra, passed an order dated 28/4/2008 directing that an enquiry under section 2 of the aforesaid Act should be completed. Pursuant to this order, on 5/9/2008 the District Collector, Thane passed an order in favour of the respondent no.4 company and the name of the respondent no.4 company was directed to be entered in the column of occupant in the 7/12 extract which is the revenue record.
C) The aforesaid order of the District Collector, Thane passed on 5/9/2008 was challenged by filing writ petitions in this Court being Writ Petition Nos.6986/2008, 6994/2008 and 7012/2008 wherein learned Single Judge of this Court passed order dated 14/10/2008 directing the respondent Nos. 1 and 2 therein (State of Maharashtra and Mira Bhayander Municipal Corpo
AI
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
