JUDGMENT :

1. The present writ petition has been filed against an order dated 24th March, 2020 passed by the Matigara Panchayat Samiti by which the application of the petitioner, for approval of a plan for installation of a lift, in the Petitioner College, was rejected.

2. The petitioner is a college located at Siliguri imparting legal education. The petitioner commenced its academic session sometime in 2010 in a building constructed in a land sanctioned by the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority (the ‘said Authority’) constituted under The West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Act, 1979 (the ‘1979 Act’). The case of the petitioner is that at the time of sanction of the relevant plan for construction of the building, the said Authority was the nodal agency for according sanction to plans for buildings within its jurisdiction. The petitioner complied with all formalities including payment and development charges etc. for construction of the building and commenced its academic sessions thereafter.

3. Learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner places a “Land Use Compatibility Certificate’ dated 6th November, 2008 issued by the said Authority to the Trust governi