Adverse possession claim against the State is not sustainable, and construction in accordance with the development plan is permissible.

Hemant Gupta, CJ.

The petitioners, except the petitioner No.32, have invoked the writ jurisdiction of this Court on the assertion that they are in adverse possession of the land in question and the respondent Nos.2, 3 and 4 have carried out a massive demolition drive of the houses and shops of the petitioners and many others situate in the area of Krishna Nagar, Banganga Nagar, Tantya Tope Nagar (T.T. Nagar) and Ahata of Rustom Khan. The assertion is that the residents are in possession since many years and have perfected their title by virtue of long and uninterrupted possession. Their relevant assertions as contained in the writ petition are as follows :-

“5.15 THAT, the Respondent No.2, 3 and 4 carried out a massive demolition drive of houses and shops of Petitioners and many others situated in the areas of Krishna Nagar, Bainganga Nagar, TTI, and Ahata Rustom Khan. This action of the Respondent is arbitrary and illegal. The residents here in possessions since last so many years and had perfected their title by virtue of their long and uninterrupted possession. A copy of the Election Voter List of the year 1982 and 1994 showing the voters living in the areas of Rustam Khan ka Aahata and TTI areas are cumulatively filed herewith and marked as ANNEXURE P/11.

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5.41 THAT, it is also important to mention here that the Petitioners herein and other similarly situated persons have been living in the said land occupied by then since long time and hence they cannot be disposed in the way intended by the Respondents. The Respondent State cannot commence any work on the land in question without acquiring the same. Under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 the emergency provision as provided under Section 17 of the old Land Acquisition Act has been given a go by and hence no work can be carried out unless the land is acquired by the Respondents.

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5.43 THAT, the Petitioners have been living on the land in question since more than 30-40 years and have perfected their title against their true owners and hence they cannot be now dispossessed without acquiring the land in question. To demonstrate that the Petitioners have been living in the land in question since long time the Petitioners are filing herewith Election Voter List of the area where the land in question is situated. The said voter list for the year 1982 and 1994 are already filed as Annexure P/11. The residents of the land in question have been regularly paying Property Tax to the Respondent No.4 and also had the Property ID generated in the records of the Respondent No.4. The Petitioners have obtained a list of such persons paying Property tax on the land in question. A copy of such list is filed herewith and marked as ANNEXURE P/25. The Respondent No.4 Municipal Corporation has ceased the aforesaid Property ID and hence the Petitioners and other similarly situated persons have been deprived from paying their Property Tax now.

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6.6 BECAUSE, the Petitioners have perfected their title due to long uninterrupted and peaceful possession of more than 40 years and the same is also hostile against the true owner hence the Petitioners cannot be just thrown out of their land. Though the Respondents have demolished the structures of the Petitioners but their possession on land is still intact and the same deserves to be protected.”

2. The stand of the petitioners is that the respondent No.1 has launched a Smart City Mission project under which 100 cities were shortlisted to be developed as “Smart Cities”. Shivaji Nagar, Bhopal was selected for Area Based Development (ABD), which includes redevelopment of 333 Acres of Government land at Shivaji Nagar situated between New Market and M.P. Nagar, Bhopal.

3. The petitioner No.32 has been impleaded in a representative capacity to represent the interest of other similarly situated persons being elected representative of local Municipal Corpor