JUDGMENT

J.B. PARDIWALA

1. These Public Interest Litigations were taken up together and are being disposed of by this common judgment as the subject matters involved are almost similar.

2. By this writ application in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation, the petitioner seeks to challenge the allotment of land admeasuring 3,76,581 sq. mtrs. situated at Mouje Koba, Ta: Gandhinagar bearing Survey No.237, 238, 242 and 270 of the Town Planning Scheme bearing Final Plot Nos.4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in favour of the respondent no.4 M/s.K. Raheja Corporation Ltd., for the purpose of development of I.T.Park @ Rs.470/-per sq.mtr.

3. According to the petitioner, such decision of the State Government is against the public interest. According to the petitioner, the natural resources belong to the people but the State legally owns them on behalf of its people and from that point of view, the natural resources are considered as national assets more so because the State benefits immensely from their value. It is alleged that in allotting huge parcels of land in favour of the respondent no.4 on a mere application filed by it, the Government has failed to act in consonance with the principles of equality and public trust.

4. The case made-out by the Petitioner may be summarized as under :

4.1 The petitioner of Writ Petition (PIL) No.2/2012 is a resident of Porbandar and former Sarpanch of village Bhad, whereas the petitioner of Writ Petition (PIL) No.2/2013 is a local resident of the City of Ahmedabad and is a former member of the Gujarat State Legislative Assembly.

4.2 According to the petitioners the State Government has allotted the land in question referred to above without inviting any tender or publishing any advertisement for the same @ Rs.470/-per sq. meter for the development of the I.T.Park.

4.3 It is the case of the petitioners that the Government could not have made such a huge allotment of about 100 acres of land for the purpose of development of an I.T.Park, more particularly when there is no policy of the State Government for allotment of such lands for the purpose of I.T. Park. In the absence of such policy, the Government ought not to have allotted such a huge parcel of land on a mere application preferred by the respondent no.4.

4.4 It is also the case of the petitioner that the land has been allotted in favour of the respondent no.4 at a throwaway price of Rs.470/-per sq.mtr., more particularly when the land allotted by the State Government to the Indian Air Force somewhere near the subject land was at a much higher price. It is alleged by the petitioners that the respondent no.4, a private developer, in the guise of development of an I.T.Park would be selling residential as well as commercial units at the current market rates and thereby would be deriving huge profit out of the same. In such circumstances, it could not be said that the allotment of the land by the State Government in favour of the respondent no.4 is for a public purpose as it is more of a charity to the respondent no.4 rather than a planned rational decision on the part of the State Government.

4.5 In such circumstances referred to above, it has been prayed by the petitioners for issue of an appropriate writ, order or direction setting aside the order of allotment dated 5/6/2006 passed in favour of respondent no.4 by the Collector, Gandhinagar.

5. Stance of the Respondent no.4 :

5.1 The project relates to an Information Technology Park at Village Koba in District Gandhinagar, and the same is in furtherance of the endeavour on the part of the Government to develop the knowledge economy and promote investment in the State to give an impetus to the overall growth, employment and infrastructure.

5.2 The said I.T. Park is being set up by the answering respondent which is an associate company of K.Raheja Corporation, one of the most reputed developers of the country. The K. Raheja Corporation group has many years of experience in setting up IT/ITES SEZs/IT Park