Important Point :
When land is earmarked for Town Planning Road purpose, same cannot be used for any other purpose.

M.R. Shah, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the learned Single Judge in Special Civil Application No.1089/2015 by which the learned Single Judge has dismissed the said Special Civil Application preferred by the appellants herein – original petitioners (hereinafter referred to as “original petitioners”), the original petitioners have preferred the present Letters Patent Appeal.

2. Facts leading to present Letters Patent Appeal in nutshell are as under:-

2.1 That the original petitioners claimed to be the occupiers of the land bearing Revenue Survey No.53/1, Plot No.72 of village Dumbhal, which is now within the local limits of Surat Municipal Corporation and is part of the Town Planning Scheme No.33, Dumbhal, Surat. That with respect to the area in question including the aforesaid revenue survey number, the draft scheme came to be sanctioned under section 48(2) of the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as “Town Planning Act”) vide notification dated 21.01.2000. It appears that thereafter the Town Planning Officer was appointed to prepare and publish the preliminary Town Planning Scheme. That the Town Planning Officer submitted the preliminary Town Planning Scheme to the State Government for its sanction, however after its scrutiny, the State Government refused to sanction the scheme as preliminary scheme vide notification dated 01.07.2010. As provided in the said notification, it was provided that Town Planning Officer shall afresh, draw the preliminary scheme in accordance with the provisions of the Town Planning Act and observation of the inquiry report has also to be considered. That under the sanctioned draft Town Planning Scheme, the lands occupied by the petitioners is forming part of Town Planning 36 meter road. Therefore, the respondent Corporation, as an implementing authority issued a notice to each of the occupiers/petitioners dated 27.05.2014 for implementation of the said scheme as provided under Sections 48A, 67, 68 of the Town Planning Act and Rule 33 of the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Rules, 1979 (hereinafter referred to as “Town Planning Rules”). That the petitioners filed their reply to the same and thereafter filed a writ petition before this Court being Special Civil Application No.8760/2014 which came to be disposed of by the learned Single Judge of this Court vide order dated 02.07.2014 directing the respondent Corporation/appropriate Authority to give an opportunity of being heard and pass a reasoned order. That thereafter the respondent Corporation has passed an order dated 03.01.2015 and has been pleased to direct the petitioners to evict the 36 meter scheme road. That being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the orders dated 03.01.2015 the respective petitioners who are 46 in number preferred the Special Civil Application No.1089/2015 before the learned Single Judge and by impugned judgment and order the learned Single Judge has dismissed the aforesaid Special Civil Application. Hence, the original petitioners – occupiers of the land in question which is needed for widening of the 36 meter road under the draft Town Planning Scheme, have preferred the present Letters Patent Appeal.

2.2 Shri S.P. Majmudar, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the original petitioners has vehemently submitted that while dismissing the Special Civil Application, the learned Single Judge has not properly appreciated the provisions of the Town Planning Act and Town Planning Rules.

It is vehemently submitted by Shri Majmudar, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the original petitioners that the learned Single Judge has not properly appreciated the fact the earlier preliminary scheme which was submitted by the Town Planning Officer was not sanctioned by the Government and as such the Government refused to