ORDER :

Heard finally, with the consent of the parties.

2. This petition has been filed by the petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against the order dated 09.11.2021 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Water and Drainage Division, Indore Municipal Corporation, whereby, the lease dated 06.09.2019 allotted to the petitioner for fishing at Yashwant Sagar reservoir for a period of 10 years has been cancelled on account of violation of the lease condition.

3. In brief, the facts of the case are that the petitioner is a co-operative society registered under the Madhya Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and has approximately 280 members. Its primary objective is related to ensure that its members who are fishermen, gets the employment.

4. The case of the petitioner is that on 06.03.2019, the respondent No.3 Indore Municipal Corporation floated an NIT for allotment of patta of Yashwant Sagar reservoir for fish farming and management for a period of 10 years and the petitioner also participated in the aforesaid tender and was granted a lease for a period of 10 years on 06.09.2019 and the lease agreement was executed on 07.09.2019 (Annexure P/5). Subsequently, the petitioner consented to allow the reservoir to be utilized by the respondent No.5 for the purposes of installation of fishery cages. The case of the petitioner is that the aforesaid cages were installed as per the scheme of the Central and State Government. The scheme is also placed on record as Annexure-P/3, in para 4.1 of which it is also provided that any person who in interested in installing the cages, shall have the lease for 10 years or can also take consent from such persons who has already got a lease for 10 years. In para 5.1 of the scheme it is also provided that such cages can be installed in the 1% of the total water area of lease. However, a notice was issued to the petitioner on 18.12.2020 in which the petitioner was asked to show cause as to why the lease shall not be cancelled. A reply to the aforesaid notice was also filed by the petitioner on 20.12.2020 (Annexure-P/9) in which the petitioner’s contention was that it has not violated any condition of the lease and has given the consent to install the cages in accordance with the permission granted by the Fisheries Department, Bhopal so that the subsidy can be obtained by the respondent No.5. It was also specifically stated that the fishing is being done in the reservoir by the members of the petitioner society only and the respondent No.5 has been given permission to install the cages. In the aforesaid reply, the petitioner has also contended that the aforesaid cages have been installed under the Project of the Central Government known as Jalaashayon Mein Cage Culture Ikai Sthapana Hetu Anudan Sahayata. Thus, it is submitted that the notice be recalled. However, vide order dated 09.11.2021, the lease executed in favour of the petitioner has been revoked after around 11 months on the ground that the petitioner has violated condition Nos.15, 18 and 19 of the lease document.

5. Counsel for the petitioner has also submitted that in the meanwhile, the petitioner was also issued a notice by the Fisheries Department (Annexure-P/10) on 08.09.2021, which was issued to the petitioner on a complaint that the petitioner has not obtained any permission from the Municipal Corporation, to which the petitioner also replied vide its reply dated 03.11.2021, in which it was informed by the petitioner to the Fisheries Department that the permission was to be obtained by the Department only. Thereafter, the Fisheries Department itself has written a letter to the Municipal Corporation on 16.11.2021 (Annexure-P/14) explaining that the petitioner is only partially responsible for not giving proper information on monthly basis regarding the fishing. However, it was also informed that so far as the installation of cage culture unit is concerned, as per para 4.1 of the Scheme, the petitioner and the respondent No.