Point of law: There are any other legally recoverable dues from the petitioner, liberty may also be left to the competent Authorities to do so as per law.

JUDGMENT :

The petitioner is stated to be a Company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and presently governed by the Companies Act, 2013. They say that, they were allotted, on higher purchase, an extent of five Acres of land in the Industrial Development Area, Kanjikkode, Palakkad, through Ext.P1, as early as on 12.07.1994; pursuant to which, Ext.P2 agreement was entered into with the Manager of the District Industries Centre, Palakkad, binding themselves as to the terms of such allotment.

2. The petitioner says that, as per Ext.P2 agreement, they were to pay the total value of the plot, namely Rs.4,14,000/-, in 10 equal annual installments, along with 6.5% interest, commencing from 30.08.1995; and that they paid off the said amount without breach. They say that this is manifest from Exts.P3 and P4 communications issued by the General Manager, District Industries Centre on 26.08.2008 and 19.10.2009 respectively, unequivocally certifying that they have paid off the entire amount of Rs.9,06,000/-, being the land value and interest and are thus eligible to get 'Patta' with respect to the land in question, subject to the clearing of balance of the land cost, that may be demanded in future. They say that no such demand was made, thus demonstrating that the value paid by them was the full one; and that subsequently, they were also allowed to mortgage the said land for the purpose of raising capital through outside funding.

3. The petitioner says that, subsequently on 23.01.2020, they made a request for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the District Industries Centre, so as to enable them to obtain a loan on the strength of the property, but that rather strangely, the same was rejected through Ext.P15 saying that, as per the latest Rules governing the allotment, namely G.O(MS)No.8/2020/ID (hereinafter referred to as the 2020 Rules'), which came into force on 08.01.2020, their request cannot be acceded to, because by the change of their share holding will have to be construed as being a 'transfer', which is impermissible.

4. The petitioner asserts that, Ext.P15 is illegal and contrary to the relevant Rules, particularly because they had become the owners of the land, on payment of the entire sale consideration, as early as in the year 2007 or 2008. They therefore, pray that Ext.P15 be set aside and the competent respondent be directed to accede to their request, without any further delay.

5. I have heard Sri. N.N. Sugunapalan, learned Senior Counsel, instructed by Sri. S. Sujin, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri. Santhosh Kumar, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.

6. Sri. N.N. Sugunapalan, learned Senior Counsel, submitted that, going by Ext.P1 - which is the order of allotment on 'Hire Purchase', the same is governed by G.O(M.S) No.169/69/ID dated 05.04.1969 (for brevity 1969 Rules'). He pointed out that, as per this order, the Government will retain charge over the assets only until the payment of the sale value is made in full, and that on completion of such payment, arrangements ought to have been made by the Director of Industries and Commerce to have it assigned in favour of his client. He added that, as is manifest from Ext.P16, his client had requested for assignment for the land as early as on 18.05.2007, after they had made payment of the entire land value and interest thereon; but that no action had been taken on it until now, which constrained them to prefer an application for NOC time to time, whenever they wanted to raise capital on the strength of the property in question. The learned Senior Counsel, therefore, prayed that Ext.P15 be set aside and the competent respondent be directed to take immediate steps to assign the land in favour of his client, and also to grant them permission to raise funds on the same, through appropriate external funding procedures.

7. In response, Sri. Santhosh Kumar, learned Special Government Pleader, submitted that, even going by