Bombay HC Nagpur bench ends ULC proceedings on 0.65 hectare plot in Wanadongri

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has brought to an end proceedings under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (ULC) in a case concerning land at Wanadongri. The court declared the proceedings abated and of no effect. The land measures 0.65 hectare, or about 69,965 square feet.

The petition was filed by Rita Pacheriwala and Shyamsunder Agrawal, who said the ULC case had ended and that their right over the land continued. After hearing the matter, Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas delivered the judgment.

The land is at Survey No. 53 in Wanadongri, earlier Survey No. 48/2. According to the petitioners, it stood in the name of Bhaiya Mahadev Walde. The original owner filed a return under Section 6(1) of the ULC Act on September 29, 1976, on the basis of which ULC Case No. 2657/1976 was registered.

A notification under Section 8 was issued on October 11, 1987. By an order of December 16, 1987, the declarant was allowed to retain 1,500 square metres out of a total of 15,579.21 square metres. On November 6, 2007, a notice was sent to the declarant under Section 10(5) to hand over the excess land.

The petitioners claimed that possession of the land was never taken and that they remain in possession of the 0.65 hectare even now. They also said the declarant had sold more land than he owned. In 1993, the declarant sold 0.81 hectare out of 1.70 hectares to Sahakar Cooperative Housing Society Limited through a sale deed.

Without disclosing this, the declarant sold 1.00 hectare to the petitioners through a registered sale deed dated November 17, 1998. By another sale deed dated December 9, 1998, 0.46 hectare was also sold to the petitioners. The petitioners argued that since the declarant sold more land than he owned, the sale deeds in their favour are valid only up to 0.65 hectare.

In reply, the government said the old Survey No. 48/2 is now Survey No. 53 and is recorded in a 1.70-hectare area. In the land rights records, the land is recorded in the name of the Maharashtra government. The government also argued that the sale deeds of November 17, 1998 and December 9, 1998 are void because they related to land that had already been declared surplus, and the ULC Act was in force at the time.

After hearing both sides, the court said it had been settled in the Boltas case that if the state government has not taken possession of the land, the proceedings are deemed to have ended and cannot go forward. The court also observed that the state had placed on record not a single document to show that possession was taken or that the declarant had handed it over. On this basis, the ULC proceedings were declared abated and of no effect.