P.K.Samanta, J. - (1.) This writ petition was filed challenging the letter dated 25.8.89 addressed to the writ petitioner by the Chairman, Burdwan Municipality. By the said letter the Chairman, Burdwan Municipality rejected the building plan submitted by the writ petitioner for construction on the ground that the site for such construction was not approved by the Municipality for a construction.
(2.) The facts as emerged from the writ petition are as follows :- Holding No. 59, B.C. Road, Kalitala, P.O., P.S. and District-Burdwan is the disputed premises. A Cinema Hall was constructed in the said holding by the petitioner No. 1 and is being run by the petitioner No. 2 company of which the petitioner No. 1 is the Managing Director. As appears from the building and site plan submitted by the petitioner No. 1 before the Municipality for sanction which is at annexure 'A' to this writ petition that upon construction of the said Cinema Hall there was a vacant space in front of the Cinema Hall abutting 55' wide B.C. Road. The petitioner No. 1 decided to construct a commercial Building in the said vacant space abutting B.C. Road in front of the Cinema Hall and for which submitted the said building plan for sanction before the Respondent/Municipality on 28th August, 1997. By the said building plan a single storyed commercial building was proposed. The Respondent/Municipality did neither sanction the said building plan for intimated anything in writing to the writ petitioner within the statutory period. In these state of things, the petitioners moved a writ petition in this court challenging the purported inaction on the part of the Respondent/Municipality in not according formal sanction to the said building plan. Section 208 of the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993 provided that if, within the period referred to in section 207, the Board of Councillors has neither recorded nor refused to accord sanction to a building plan, nor granted permission to execute a work, such sanction or permission shall be deemed to have been granted. This court by an order dated 10th August, 1998 directed the Respondent/Municipality to dispose of the plan case of the writ petitioner as per the provisions of law within a period of 15 days from the date of communication of the said order with further stipulation that in the event of failure of respondent/ municipality to dispose of the building plan of the writ petitiioner within the said time, the petitioner will be entitled to proceed with the construction and/or execution of the work pursuant to the building plan submitted on 28.8.97. Upon receipt of the said order of this court the Respondent/Municipality by a letter dated 18.8.98 called upon the petitioner No. 1 for a hearing on 24th August, 1988. The Respondent/Municipality upon hearing rejected and/or refused to sanction the building plan of the writ petitioner by the impugned letter dated 25.8.88 of the Chairman of the Respondent/Municipality which is under challenge in this writ petition. The letter reads as under :- "With reference to the above I am to inform you that the site mentioned in your site plan cannot be considered for sanction or approved for further construction for which your site and building plan is hereby rejected."
(3.) Mr. Bidyut Kiran Mukherjee, learned senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner seriously challenged the said letter dated 25.8.89 upon reference to sections 203 and 210 of the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993 (hereinafter called as the said Act). Mr. Mukherjee, contended that section 210 enumerates the grounds on which a sanction of a building plan can be refused. The impugned letter having nor disclosed any one of such grounds for refusal it is presumed that no such ground was available to the Respondent/Municipality to refuse sanction of the building plan of the writ petitioner. Mr. Mukherjee, contended that the building plan was prepared upon compliance of all relevant municipal laws, rules and regulations relating thereto. Accoridingly, it was urged that such refusal of sanction of the building plan of the writ petitioner was absolutely arbitrary and without any authority under the provisions of law. According to Mr. Mukherjee, for the purpose of approval of the site for building under section 203 of the said Act, only requirement provided therein is the no-objection certificate under sub-section(3) of section 5 of the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act 1976 from competent authority as defined in proviso to the said section. But such approval of site plan is no longer necessary as it was held by this court that a Municipality cannot refuse to sanction a building plan on the ground of non-production of such no objection certificate from the competent authority under urban land (Ceilding & Regulation) Act, 1976. Mr. Mukherjee lastly argued that in any event non-approval of the site for construction for the reasons as stated in the affidavit-in-opposition cannot be sustained in law as the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1932 does not provide any norms for such non-approval.;