Renewal of a lease is discretionary and contingent on fulfilling lease terms; violation of conditions, including unauthorized use, disqualifies entitlement.

JUDGMENT :

Ramesh Sinha, C.J.

1. Heard Mr. Mehmood Pracha through Video Conferencing assisted by Mr. Yashkaran Singh, learned counsel for the appellants. Also heard Mr. Prafull N. Bharat, learned Advocate General assisted by Mr. Shashank Thakur, learned Deputy Advocate General appearing for the State/ respondents No.1 to 5 as well as Mr. Samarth Singh Marhas and Mr. Pranay Golchha, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.6.

2. By way of this writ appeal, appellants has prayed for following relief(s):-

“a) Allow the present appeal and set aside the judgment and order dated 18.07.2025 passed by the Hon'ble Single Judge of this Hon'ble Court in WPC No. 977 of 2025; and

b) Declare that the land bearing Plots No. 20 and 21, Sheet No. 14, Chatapara, Bilaspur, is owned by the Petitioner No. 1 in a Bhumiswami capacity by virtue of Section 158 (3) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959; or

c) Direct the Respondents to renew the allotment of the land bearing Plots No. 20 and 21, Sheet No. 14, Chatapara, Bilaspur in favour of the Petitioner No. 1 in terms of the previous renewal lease dated 11.05.1966;”

3. The present intra Court appeal has been filed against the order dated 18.07.2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in WPC No.977 of 2025 (Christian Womans Board of Mission and another v. State of Chhattisgarh and others) whereby the writ petition filed by the appellants/writ petitioners before the learned Single Judge has been dismissed.

4. The writ petition was filed by the appellants/writ petitioners, as they were aggrieved by the alleged arbitrary and unconstitutional actions of the respondent–State authorities seeking to dispossess them from a leasehold property situated in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, on which they had been lawfully occupying and developing for over a century for religious, educational, and charitable purposes. According to the appellants, the Disciples of Christ began its mission in India in the year 1882 and has since been continuously engaged in evangelism and public service through its affiliated body, the Christian Woman’s Board of Mission (CWBM), which established the Jackman Memorial Mission Hospital, a Nurses’ Training School, a Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and a Chapel on the subject land. The legal and institutional existence of the association was judicially recognized by the then Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No. 86/1980 (Padri E. Bhagirathi v. Bajrang Agrawal & Ors.).

5. It was further the case of the appellants/writ petitioners that the land in question was originally granted on lease by the then State of Madhya Pradesh in 1925, which was regularly renewed up to 1994. Thereafter, although the formal renewal remained pending, the appellants/writ petitioners continued in uninterrupted possession, paying statutory dues and carrying out public service activities without any objection. The trusteeship of the mission was transferred in 1969 to the United Church of North India Trust Association (UCNITA), a registered body managing the affairs of the mission. The lease deed executed in Form–H under the Revenue Book Circular contains Clause 8, mandating renewal of the lease for successive terms of thirty years at the lessee’s request. Despite repeated applications and representations, the authorities failed to renew the lease and instead, issued undated and backdated notices, initiating steps to transfer the land for other public projects such as Smart City development, ignoring its historic and charitable character.

6. During penden