The main legal point established in the judgment is that the claim for allotment of plots as 'Local Displaced Persons' should be determined under the rules in force at the time the cause of action accrued, and the interpretation of key legal provisions by the Supreme Court influenced the court's decision.

Surya Kant, J.

CM-8693-2013

Heard.

With the consent of leaned counsel for the parties, the main case is taken on Board for hearing today itself.

CWP-2190-1984

1. The first petitioner alongwith her three daughters, namely, petitioner Nos. 2 to 4, seeks a mandamus to direct the Improvement Trust, Ludhiana (for brevity, ‘the Trust') to consider and allot them residential plots being ‘Local Displaced Persons' in accordance with the provisions of Utilisation of Land and Allotment of Plots by Improvement Trust Rules, 1975 (for brevity, ‘the 1975 Rules').

2. Brief reference to the facts may be noticed as under.

3. Petitioners were owners of the land measuring 8 bighas and 18 biswas, i.e. 26700 square yards (approximately measuring 5.53 acres, minus the residential house exempted from acquisition) in the revenue estate of village Taraf Gahlewal, Tehsil and District Ludhiana, description whereof is given in para 2 of the writ petition. The above-stated land was acquired by State of Punjab for execution of "2.2 Hectares Development Scheme", floated by the Trust. The State Government/Trust took a decision and pursuant thereto, residential building of the petitioners measuring 1667 square yards was exempted from acquisition vide Resolution No.17 dated 24.03.1976. Thereafter the Award was passed on 09.11.1976.

4. It is an admitted fact that at the time of acquisition ‘Utilisation of Land and Allotment of Plots by Improvement Trust Rules 1975' framed by State of Punjab in exercise of its powers under Section 73 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 (for brevity, ‘the Act'), were in force. Rule 2(a) of these Rules defined ‘Local Displaced Person', to mean a person who is the owner of a property acquired by the Trust for the execution of a Scheme and has been such owner for a continuous period of two years immediately before the first publication of the Scheme by the Trust under Section 36 of the Act. Rule 7 of these Rules pertained to ‘Reservation of Plots and Tenements', and it used to read as follows:-

"7(i)(a) 15 percent and 3 percent of the tenements or plots in group I, II and III shall be reserved for allotment to the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, respectively.

(b) 10 percent of tenements in groups I, II and III and 5 percent of the plots in group IV shall be reserved for allotment to such categories or class of persons as may, keeping in view the socio-economic factors governing such categories or class or persons, be specified by the Government from time to time. Such tenements and plots shall be allotted by the Trust at reserve price with the disposal of the Government.

(ii) A local displaced person may be allotted a plot upto the size of 500 sq.yds on freehold basis, on reserve price calculated on the basis of the formula in the Annexure, if the area of the land owned by him and acquired by the Trust is more than 500 sq.yds. If the area of the acquired land is less than 500 sq.yds. the local displaced person shall be entitled to allotment of plot which is nearest in size, next below the area of his land, which has come under acquisition.

(iii) The tenements and plots remaining after meeting the requirements of sub-rules (i) and (ii) shall be transferred to the general quota. Separate registers of applications shall be maintained one for the Scheduled Castes, another for the Backward Classes and the third one for the other classes."

5. It may be seen from Rule 7(ii) of the 1975 Rules that there used to be reservation in favour of ‘Local Displaced Person' pursuant to which a plot ‘upto the size of 500 sq.yds on freehold basis, on reserve price to be calculated as per the prescribed formula, could be allotted provided that the area of acquired land was more than 500 sq.yds.'

6. The petitioners applied for allotment of residential plots in the category of ‘Local Displaced Person'. When no decision was