The main legal point established in the judgment is that the Nagpur Improvement Trust's authority to recover additional development charges from the first transferee of a land plot already regularized under the Gunthewari Act was found to be incompetent and not justified under the relevant legal provisions.

1. The question involved in this case is of the competency of the Nagpur Improvement Trust (in short NIT) to pass Resolution No. 8/1003, dated 02.04.2003 proposing to recover additional charges of development at the rate of Rs.16/- per sq. feet from the first transferee of the land/open plot which was already regularized under the provisions of the Maharashtra Gunthewari (Development, Regulation, Upgradation and Control) Act, 2001 (in short "Gunthewri Act") upon payment of development charges by the plot holder, the transferee.

The facts of the case are as under :

2. One Wahida Begam purchased Plot No. 105, Khasra No. 28/29, Mouza-Borgaon, Tq. And Distt. Nagpur, admeasuring 1050 sq. feet by registered sale deed dated 30.09.1992 from the Cooperative Housing Society. About 1900 unauthorized layouts were regularized along with the constructions thereon in accordance with the provisions of the Gunthewari Act and the Board Resolution No.15, dated 27.01.2001 and B.R. No. 10/977, dated 28.05.2001 and B.R. No. 8/1003, dated 02.04.2003. A notice of demand dated 20.11.2003 was issued to said Wahida Begam and she was required to pay the development charges at the rate of Rs.16/- per sq.feet for the open land and at the rate of Rs.6/- per sq.feet for the constructed area. It is not in dispute that this demand was satisfied by Wahida Begam and accordingly, an order of regularization was passed on 06.01.2004.

3. The petitioner purchased the plot in question from Wahida Begam by registered sale deed dated 17.12.2003 i.e. before the order of regularization dated 06.01.2004 was passed by the NIT. The NIT issued notice of demand which is at Annexure-1 to the petition, calling upon the petitioner, the transferee of the land, to pay additional regularization charges for sale of the property at the rate of Rs.16/- per sq. feet, being total amount of Rs.16,838/-. The stand of the NIT is that, in terms of clause (6) under the notice of demand dated 21.11.2003 issued to the erstwhile owner and the Board Resolution No. 8/1003, dated 02.04.2002, the demand notice at Annexure-1 was issued to the petitioner and this is the subject matter of challenge in this writ petition.

4. Shri Anil Kilor, the learned counsel for the petitioner, has urged that the demand for additional development charges is being justified on the basis of the provision of sub-section (3) of Section 3 of the Gunthewari Act. According to him, the development charges determined by the State Government to be payable upon regularization of the plot under sub-section (3) of Section 3 were paid by the erstwhile owner Wahida Begam and thereupon the order of regularization was passed on 06.01.2004. He submits that once the order of regularization was passed, the provisions of the Gunthewari Act cease to apply and the action for recovery of development charges by issuing notice of demand in question was incompetent.

5. The stand of NIT is that it is the planning authority as defined under Section 2(c) of Gunthewari Act and in terms of proviso to sub-section (3) of Section 3 therein, it was competent to pass resolution No. 8/1003, dated 02.04.2003 in the meeting of Board to impose the additional development charges of Rs. 16/- per sq.feet leviable only upon the first transfer by the original owner of the unauthorized plot. It is also the stand taken that the said resolution was passed by the Board under the provision of sub-section (1) of Section 25 of the Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1949 and it was approved by the State Government in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 25 therein by issuing communication dated 30.06.2003, placed on record along with the affidavit. It is, therefore, urged by Shri Kunthe, the learned counsel appearing for the NIT, that there cannot be any doubt about the competency of the NIT either to pass such resolution or to issue notice of demand to implement such resolution.

6. On 4th July, 2017, the matter was heard at length and we passed an order as under :

"The qu