The main legal point established in the judgment is that the legal fiction of sanction lapsing under Section 300 of the Act requires both the non-commencement of construction within one year and non-completion within two years for its invocation.

( 1 ) BY this writ petition, filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, petitioners pray for issuance of a writ in the nature of Mandamus, directing the respondents not to obstruct the petitioners in any manner in their construction of building in the light of the sanctioned map dated 25-7-1997. Further prayer made by the petitioners is to pay to them a sum of Rs. 20,00,000/- as damages for what the petitioners term to be an arbitrary and illegal action of demolition of House No. 708 situated in nazul plot No. 5455 having an area of 2050 Sq. ft. in Madan Mohan Malviya Ward, Galgala in the town of Jabalpur.

( 2 ) FACTS necessary for the decision of the present writ petition are that petitioners are sons of late Smt. Veermati Bai, widow of late Kaluram. Late Smt. Veermati Bai along with the petitioners owned house No. 708 having a total area 2050 Sq. ft. built on nazul plot No. 5455 in Madan Mohan Malviya Ward, in the town of Jabalpur. Aforsaid house suffered extensive damage in the earthquake which ravaged this town on 22nd May, 1997. She applied for grant of loan for reconstruction of the house, to the Jabalpur Development Authority which sanctioned a loan of Rs. 80,000/- by order dated 14-1-1998. Petitioner No. 1 Mahadev Prasad Vishwa-karama was also sanctioned a loan of Rs. 40,000/- by the Jabalpur Development Authority by order dt. 30-6-1998.

( 3 ) AFTER sanction of a total loan of Rs. 1. 20 lacs, Smt. Veermati Bai submitted a map for tis sanction by the Municipal Corporation to raise construction over the land on which her house No. 708 was earlier existing. Municipal Corporation, Jabalpur sanctioned the map of the proposed construction by order dated 25-9-1997. While communicating the grant of sanction, Smt. Veermati Bai was apprised of the terms and conditions of sanction and clauses 5, 6 and 7 which are relevant for the purpose inter alia directed her to commence the construction within 1 year from the date of sanction of the map, complete the construction within 2 years from the date of sanction of the map and in case construction has not commenced or completed within the aforesaid period, submit an application for renewal of the map in the office. In the original map sanctioned, there is a note which states that construction be commenced before 25-9-1998 and be completed by 25-7-2000.

( 4 ) IT is the stand of the petitioners that they commenced the construction of the building after obtaining loan from the Jabalpur Development Authority much before the expiry of the period of one year. In order to substantiate the aforesaid assertion, petitioners have placed on record the loan approval order dated 10-7-1998 (Annex. P/7) of petitioner No. 1 and loan approval order dated 28-10-1997 of Veermati Bai. A perusal of the order granting loan to Veermati Bai shows that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th instalments were to be relaeased on 1-11-1997, 13-11-1997, 9-12-1997 and 16-1-1998 respectively. As regards the order granting sanction of loan of petitioner No. 1 is concerned, it provided for the release of 1st and 2nd instalment of 20,000/- each on 29-4-1998 and 20-5-1998 respectively. It is the stand of the petitioners that financial institution releases loans at different stages of the construction and the instalments having been disbursed prior to 25-9-1998 clearly establish that infact the petitioners have commenced construction within 1 year from the date of sanction of the map.

( 5 ) STAND of the respondents however is that the petitioners did not commence the construction within one year from the date of sanction of the map. According to the respondents; the site was inspected on 26-8-1998 by the Sub-Engineer who in his reported stated that construction has not commenced till the said date and the old building still exists in a dilapitated and dangerous condition. After the receipt of the aforesaid report of the Sub-Engineer, the City Engineer as also the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation