J. S. Verma, J. - (1.) The dispute relates to the building sanction of House No. 2, Sholapur Bazar Road, Pune, which falls within the area of Pune Cantonment governed by the Cantonments Act, 1924 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act').
(2.) The Respondent No.1 was granted a building sanction under Section 181 of the Act on 2-7-1981 effective from 6-7-1981. The building was intended to be used for commercial/residential purposes; it was to be an RCC framed structure and to consist of ground and five upper stories (i.e. stilt + six upper stories); the nature of soil was 'hard rock'; the construction work was to be commenced within one year of the sanction i.e. before 6-7-1982; and was to be completed within 12 months from the date of commencement of the work. The building bye-laws existing at the time of the sanction did not contain any restriction with regard to the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) or number of floors or height of the building. By a letter dated 3-7-1982, barely three days before expiry of the permissible period for commencement of the work, a letter was sent by the respondent No.1 stating that the work had been commenced on that day. For the purposes of this case, the appellants did not dispute this claim of the respondent No.1. According to the conditions of the building sanction imposed under the relevant statutory provisions, the construction of the building had to be completed within 12 calendar months from the date of commencement of the work i.e. up to 3-7-1983. Admittedly, the construction of the building was neither completed nor was an extension of time sought within that period. The respondent No. 1 claims to have made an application for extension of time to complete the construction on 24-9-1983, after expiry of the time allowed. For the purposes of this case the appellants do not dispute even this claim. The contentions of that application alleged to have been made by the respondent No. 1, are as under: "MRJ:9/86/36 24-9-1983 The Executive Officer, Cantonment Board, Pune Sub:Extension of time. Ref:Your sanction No. 2/SH/B3 dated 6-7-81, for our project at No. 2, Sholapur Bazar Road. Sir, We have commenced the above work with effect from 3-7-82 and your office was intimated accordingly vide our letter No. MPJ:MK/7/82, dated 3-7-1982. It was not possible to complete the works within a span of one year due to the various following reasons: 1. Hard rock is met with for basement foundation which requires chiselling. 2. Non availability of building materials. 3. Due to change in the strata now met with, structural detailing requires some changes. 4. Due to various other difficulties. We, therefore, request you to kindly grant us an extension of time for a further period of 24 months and oblige. Yours faithfully, for MPJ Builders, Sd/- (Ramesh Kumar More) Partner'. On 24-5-1984, an engineer of the Cantonment Board inspected the site and submitted a report that no erection work of the building had been commenced till then; the owner had not made any application for extension of time; and the sanction had lapsed. The making of this report is undisputed. Thereafter, on 9-9-1985, an application said to be the second application for extension of time was made by the respondent No. 1. That application is as under: "BY REGISTERED A.D." HPJ/RRH/9/85/106 Sept. 9th, 1985 Executive Officer, Pune Cantonment Board, Pune 411 001 Ref.:(a) Your sanction No. 2/SH/B-3 of 6-7-1981 for our project at No. 2 Sholapur Bazar Road. (b) Our letter No. HPJ/MK/7/82/343 of 3-7-1982 regarding intimation of commencement. (c) Our letter No. MPJ/9/83/736 of 24-9-1983. Sir, Due to various unforeseen reasons and difficulties, we could not make substantial progress with the work at our site at Sholapur Bazar Road. We request you to grant us further extension of 18 months and oblige. We assure you that we will try our best to complete the building within this extended period. Thanking You, For MPJ Builders, (Ramesh Kumar More) Partner" On that application, a report dated 3-10-1985 was submitted by an officer of the Cantonment Board, Relevant part of that report is as under:- "The party has not started the construction from the date of sanction and not taken any extension of time limit for completion of work from this office. On site inspection, it is found that the owner of this property had started excavation work. Which work is in progress. Submitted for your order's pl. Sd/- 3-10-85"
(3.) The Cantonment Executive Officer, exercising the power of the Board, granted extension of time for a period of one year from the date of that order dated 2-5-1986 as under: "02 May 1986 From The Cantonment Executive Officer, Poona Cantonment Board, >Poona. To Shri Ramesh Kumar More, Partner, C/o. MPJ Builders, Poona Bottling Co. Ltd., 4101 /1, Bombay-Poona Road, Dapodi, Pune 411 012 Subject:Grant of extension of time for completion of work - H. No. 2, Sholapur Bazar, Pune Cantt. Reference:Your application dt. 9-9-1985. Dear Sir, Extension of time for completion of work for a period of one year is hereby granted. Yours faithfully, Sd/- CANTT. EXECUTIVE OFFICER". ;