AMITAVA LALA, J. - (1.) AT the very out set we would like to make the picture clear with regard to connectivity and analogous hearing of the aforesaid matters in order to avoid any confusion in this regard. Initially, when aforesaid First Appeal From Order No. 120 of 2008 was filed as defective [FAFO No.(25) of 2008], a Division Bench of this Court upon hearing the learned Counsel appearing for the respective parties on 08th January, 2008 condoned the delay and directed the department to allot regular number of the appeal. It appears that against this order dated 08th January, 2008, M/s Technology Park Ltd. approached the Supreme Court by way of Special Leave to Appeal (Civil).CC No. 7154 of 2008 (M/s Technology Park Ltd. Vs. Sri Ram Chaudhary and others), wherein Sri Ram Chaudhary (the appellant in FAFO No. 120 of 2008) filed Intervention Application No. 3 of 2008. Ultimately, on 30th June, 2008 the Supreme Court while dismissing the special leave petition and I.A. No. 3 of 2008, passed the following order: "Having heard learned counsel for the respective parties in I.A. No. 3/2008, the special leave petition filed by M/s. Technology Park Ltd. is itself taken up for consideration. It appears from the pleadings and from the submissions of the counsel that there are various writ petitions W.P.(C) No. 65654/06, W.P.(C) No. 68436/06 & W.P.(C) No. 4812/07, and also F.A.O. No. 120 of 2008 (defective), pending before the Allahabad High Court. The said First Appeal arises out of a Civil Suit O.S. 456/2007 filed by respondent No. 1 herein for specific performance, pending before the Civil Judge, Sr. Division, Gautam Budh Nagar, (U.P.). On consideration of the submissions made, the special leave petition and also I.A.No. 3/2008 filed therein are dismissed with a request to the High Court to dispose of the pending writ petitions, as also the First Appeal, expeditiously, and, if possible, within a period of two months from the date of communication of this order. We also make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion with regard to the subject matter of the pending writ petitions and the First Appeal and the High Court will be at liberty to pass appropriate orders in the said matters. In the meantime, however, no third party rights are to be created in respect of the lands in question."
(2.) THEREAFTER when the said appeal came up before this Bench with a prayer for analogous hearing, Court required formal assignment to maintain the propriety and on 23rd July, 2008 directed the parties to place the matters before the Hon'ble Chief Justice/ Hon'ble Senior Judge for obtaining appropriate order of assignment. Consequently, when the matters were assigned to the Bench presided over by one of us (Amitava Lala, J.), we directed to list the appeal along with Civil Misc. Writ Petition Nos. 65654/2006, 68436/2006 and 4812/2007. Thereafter under the various orders of different Benches of this Court, all the aforesaid matters have been connected for analogous hearing and have been heard accordingly. To understand the real controversy and for effective adjudication of the controversy, it is necessary to narrate the brief facts of the case, which give rise to the aforesaid matters.
(3.) ONE Mr. Shaukat Rai Malhotra, an entrepreneur, in or around 1983, conceived a project for setting up technology park and/or electronic city, which would be self contained in themselves, for which he approached the Government of India as well as the Government of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Initially the Government of India decided that such technology park/ electronic city would be set up in both the States i.e. Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, pursuant whereto the matter was publicised. In order to achieve the said object, Mr. Malhotra incorporated a company, namely, Technology Park Limited (hereinafter referred to as the 'petitioner company') under the Companies Act, 1956 with the primary object of setting up Technology Park/ Electronics City and applied to the Department of Industries, Government of U.P. for grant of requisite sanction for land use clearance of 200 acres, which was accorded by the Department of Industries, Government of U.P. vide its letter dated 29th July, 1985. Similarly sanction of no objection certificate was also granted by the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad by letter dated 11th December, 1985. Since the implementation of said project required the acquisition of land of 200 acres, in view of the restrictions imposed on the right of bhumidhars to transfer the land by way of sale or gift under Section 154 (2) of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the 'U.P.Z.A. and L.R. Act') the petitioner company was required to apply for necessary permission to acquire such land, which was also applied and the State Government by letter dated 19th July, 1986 duly granted such permission with certain conditions, which as per the English version supplied by the petitioner company are as follows: "1. That the inspection of the Technology Park Project shall be conducted by a monitoring committee of which the President will be Principal Secretary (Industry), Chief Secretary, Finance Department, the Secretary, Revenue Department and Coordinator Incharge Secretary/Special Secretary, Electronic Industry. The Committee will try to develop the production area first and thereafter the residential area shall be developed. 2. In the Board of Directors of M/s Technology Park Limited, an officer from U.P. Electronic Corporation will be nominated. 3. This order has been issued with the consent of the revenue department." Pursuant to the permission granted, as above, the petitioner company from time to time acquired substantial areas of land in Village Tushiyana (Surajpur), Tehsil Dadri, District Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh with the consent, concurrence and knowledge of the State Government, but the State Government failed to constitute the aforesaid Monitoring Committee and also did not nominate a Director in the Board of Directors of the petitioner company. However, prior to the petitioner company could complete acquisition of entire 200 acres of land, a notice was issued by the Under Secretary to the Government of U.P, Industries Department, Section -5, Lucknow on 21st November, 1988 requiring the petitioner company to show cause within fifteen days as to why the permission granted to it under the order dated 19th July, 1986 be not withdrawn for not complying with and for alleged violation of the conditions mentioned in the permission order. The petitioner company submitted its reply to the said show cause notice on 05th December, 1988. However, the State Government vide its order dated 20th April, 1989 has decided to cancel the permission and directed the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad to cancel the aforesaid permission dated 19th July, 1986 and to do the needful accordingly. Challenging the aforesaid order dated 20th April, 1989 the petitioner company has filed Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 9570 of 1989 (Technology Parks Limited Vs. State of U.P. and others) praying inter alia as follows: "(i) issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 20.4.1989 passed by respondent no. 2 (Annexure no. 11 to the petition); (ii) issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents not to give effect to the impugned order dated 20.4.1989; (iii) issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of prohibition prohibiting the respondents from interfering with the functioning of the petitioner company in any manner; (iv) issue any other writ, order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case; And (v) Award costs of the petition to the petitioner from the contesting respondents." ;