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2025 Supreme(Online)(Raj) 14920

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR

[2025:RJ-JD:38407]

S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6929/2025

Jagdish Chandra Tailor S/o Shivnarayan Tailor, aged about 47 Years, Resident of Dhau Ji Ki Bawri Rakampura Road Bedwas Udaipur Rajasthan
----Petitioner
Versus
1. State of Rajasthan, through its Principal Secretary Urban Development and Housing Department Government of Rajasthan Jaipur.
2. Udaipur Development Authority, Udaipur through its Commissioner.
3. Secretary, Udaipur Development Authority Udaipur
4. Deputy Inspector General, Registration and Stamps District Udaipur.
5. Sub Registrar-1, Udaipur.
6. Sub Registrar-II, Udaipur.
7. Tehsildar, Girwa District Udaipur.
8. Tehsildar, Badgaon District Udaipur.
9. Tehsildar, Kurabad District Udaipur.
----Respondents

For Petitioner(s) : Dr. Sachin Acharya, Sr. Adv. assisted by Mr. Vedant Agrawal, Adv. Mr. Samyak Dalal, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Vijay Purohit, Adv. Mr. Hanuman Singh Gaur, Adv.

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MUNNURI LAXMAN

Judgment Reserved on : 28/07/2025
Judgment Pronounced on : 29/08/2025

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Sachin Acharya, Vedant Agrawal, Samyak Dalal
For the Respondents: Vijay Purohit, Hanuman Singh Gaur

When a public authority definitively concludes a violation of policy in its internal reports and initiates steps to cancel an approval based on external government directions, a writ petition is maintainable to prevent an abuse of process, as requiring the petitioner to await formal proceedings would be a futile formality.

Headnote:(A) Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 - Section 90-B - Rajasthan Township Policy, 2010 - Clause 5.1 - Udaipur Development Act - Section 52 - Challenge to proposed cancellation of Residential Integrated Township Scheme - Principles of natural justice - Pre-judging of issues by authorities - Contiguity of land parcels - Excess land value considerations. (Paras 1, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21)

(B) Writ Jurisdiction - Premature challenge - Where the authorities have already formed a conclusive opinion based on audit/enquiry reports before issuing notice, requiring the petitioner to wait for final orders would be an empty formality and an abuse of process. (Paras 11, 19, 22)

Facts of the case:
The petitioner, a developer, challenged multiple communications and a departmental decision proposing to rescind the approval granted to his Residential Integrated Township Scheme. Respondents alleged the scheme lacked the mandatory 10 hectares of contiguous land and claimed financial loss due to a land exchange with the Authority. The petitioner argued the projects were contiguous and combined under policy guidelines.

Findings of Court:
The Court found that the projects met the contiguity and area requirements under the Policy. It held that the Authority had effectively pre-judged the matter by accepting audit and enquiry reports before providing the petitioner an opportunity to be heard.

Issues: Whether the writ petition is maintainable despite pending statutory proceedings, and whether the proposed cancellation of the township approval was justified based on the audit/enquiry reports.

Ratio Decidendi: Where authorities have already reached a definite conclusion and directed process based on internal reports, mandating the exhaustion of statutory remedies would be a futile exercise and an abuse of process; furthermore, authorities cannot cancel layout approvals on administrative grounds without proof of collusion or invalidity in land exchange.

Result: Petition allowed; impugned orders and decisions quashed.

Judgment

1) The present writ petition has been filed challenging the impugned office orders dated 24.02.2025 and 27.02.2025 issued by the Udaipur Development Authority, as well as the letter dated 19.03.2025 issued by the Urban Development & Housing Department, Government of Rajasthan and the communication dated 28.02.2025 issued by the Deputy Inspector General, Registration & Stamps, District Udaipur. The petition also challenges the decision of the Udaipur Development Authority dated 27.03.2025, whereby the audit objections and the report of the internal Enquiry Committee were accepted, and it was proposed to cancel the approval of the petitioner’s Residential Integrated Township Scheme dated 11.10.2022 by placing the matter before the Layout Plan Committee.

2) The case of the writ petitioner is that the petitioner is the purchaser of lands situated in Revenue Villages Dhikli and Wada through sale deeds dated 23.02.2022 and 21.07.2022. They submitted an application for the development of a Residential Integrated Township, by including lands situated in Revenue Villages Nalafala, Wada, and Dhikli in District Udaipur, measuring a total area of 14.7313 hectares. The petitioners obtained land conversion under Section 90-B of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as, “the RLR Act, 1956”) vide orders dated 04.04.2008 and 29.04.2008. The petitioners, along with other co-owners of the land, jointly applied for approval of the Residential Integrated Township under the Rajasthan Township Policy, 2010. The land forming part of the proposed township also included land exchanged by the Udaipur Development Authority, proportionate to the land conveyed by the petitioners. The land exchanged by the petitioner was designated as plantation area under the Master Plan, whereas the land received from the Udaipur Development Authority formed part of the Highway Development Control Area. Upon examining the application, the authorities granted approval for the township by proceedings dated 11.10.2022. Following such regularization, allotment letters and lease deeds were issued for the lands covered under the township. Based on those allotments and lease deeds, the petitioner also sold several plots to various purchasers through registered sale deeds.

3) The respondent-Authority, acting on a report of the Local Audit Department and based on a private complaint, issued several communications, more particularly, the communication dated 19.03.2025 issued by the Urban Development & Housing Department, Government of Rajasthan, whereby the Government directed the Udaipur Development Authority to cancel the approved plans, allotment letters, and lease deeds. Pursuant to these directions from the State Government, the Udaipur Development Authority, by communication dated 24.02.2025, prohibited any transfer, sub-division, reconstitution, mutation, change in land use, building permissions, or construction activities on the plots covered under the Integrated Township approved on 11.10.2022. Subsequently, by another communication dated 27.02.2025, the Udaipur Development Authority requested the District Collector to issue necessary instructions to the Sub Registrar and Tehsildar, District Udaipur, for compliance with the UDA’s letter dated 24.02.2025. The Deputy Inspector General, Registration & Stamps, issued a letter dated 28.02.2025, directing Sub-Registrar I and II, Udaipur, to take note of the UDA’s communication dated 24.02.2025 and act accordingly.

4) Initially, the petitioner challenged the proceedings of Udaipur Development Authority, the proceedings of Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Rajasthan and the letter of DIG, Registration & Stamps by filing the present writ petition. While such writ petition is pending, the Udaipur Development Authority had constituted an Enquiry Committee to go into the observations made in the local fund audit report and ultimately, the Enquiry Committee also submitted a report

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