G.S.SINGHVI,J - (1.) IN this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for directing respondents No. 1 and 2 to grant exemption to Sunder Nagar/Ram Nagar Colony from Saheed Sewa Singh Thikriwala Nagar Scheme framed by the Patiala Improvement Trust, Patiala (for short, 'the Trust'). He has also prayed for directing the Trust to issue exemption letter in his favour and undertake the development work in the colony. Still further, he has prayed for restraining the respondents from demolishing his house.
(2.) THE petitioner has averred that his father and uncle, namely, Shri Megh Raj Pathak and Shri Des Raj Pathak purchased 1495 square yards land situated in Sunder Nagar/Ram Nagar Colony, Patiala from one Shri Sham Lal son of Ram Sarup resident of Bishan Nagar, Patiala by registered sale deed. The said land formed part of Saheed Sewa Singh Thikriwala Scheme framed by respondent No. 3 and sanctioned by the State Government some time in the year 1976. After passing of the award by the Land Acquisition Collector, the Chairman of respondent No. 3 issued notice under Section 195-A of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 read with Section 49 of the Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 to Megh Raj Pathak for demolition of the constructions made by him by describing the same to be unauthorised. Similar notices were issued to other residents of Sunder Nagar Colony, some of whom filed C.W.P. No. 1238 of 1978 which was disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court on 10.5.1978 in view of the statement made by the counsel for the Trust that buildings of the petitioners would not be demolished and the application submitted by them for grant of exemption would be forwarded to the Government for appropriate consideration. According to the petitioner, instead of deciding the application for grant of exemption, the authorities of the Trust started demolishing the construction made in Sunder Nagar/Ram Nagar Colony necessitating the filing of C.W.P. No. 175 of 1991 Rajinder Kumar Sharma and others v. State of Punjab and others. During the pendency of that petition, the State Government and the Trust considered the issue of grant of exemption to the existing structures and in the meeting held on 19.1.1993, under the Chairmanship of the Secretary, Local Government Department, Punjab, it was decided to grant exemption to some of the existing structures and to allot alternative plots to those who were not to be benefited by the exemption. The relevant extract of the said decision is reproduced below : "3. Pursuant to this representation, Sh. S.P. Karkara, IAS, D.L.G. had preliminary meeting at patiala on 6.1.1993 with the concerned officers of the Town and Country Planning Deptt. Improvement Trust as well as the representatives of the above colonies. In this meeting, Chairman, Improvement Trust, Patiala apprised that he had already negotiated with the effected residents of these colonies and have mutually agreed to the following proposals : (i) Reduction of width of 60' wide road to 45' wide road marked as A and B on the plan by taking over possession of land and structures falling within the alignment of road against commensurate payment/compensation and rehabilitation within the Sunder Nagar locality (copy appended). (ii) Reduction of width 60' to 30' wide road marked as C and D on the plan by taking over the possession of plots of land and houses falling in this alignment by paying similar and suitable compensation and their rehabilitation within Sunder Nagar Colony (copy appended). (iii) That 29 houses which have come up in the plotted area on the south of 60' wide proposed road, the possession of which is with the Improvement Trust, shall also be paid adequate compensation of their built up houses in order to get these pockets vacated and give possession of these plots to the prospective buyers since these have already been allotted by the Trust. The effected house owners and plot holders shall also be rehabilitated within the Sunder Nagar Colony. This act is rather more important since numerous plots, which have been already allotted, shall not be available for giving possession to the buyers unless these structures are cleared otherwise the (sic) Improvement Trust. 4. Subsequent to the above decisions and on the advice of Sh. S.P. Karkara, IAS, D.L.G. Punjab, the Chairman, Improvement Trust, Patiala further held negotiations with the residents and representative of Sunder Nagar Colony on 9.1.1993 site, wherein after desired persuasions, the owners of the plots and of the houses falling in 60' wide road have agreed to part off their properties and houses against the payment of compensation of market value, and by providing appropriate rehabilitation to the effected persons preferably in the Sunder Nagar Colony area or in this scheme at suitable places if the situation so demands. 5. That in making adjustments of these colonies, the Trust will have to suffer a loss of about Rs. 5,95,025.00 for clearing the roads from the dwellers of the colony. The Trust is ready to suffer this loss. At the sometime, it is worthwhile to mention that in case Trust pays the compensation to the 29 dwellers in the Sunder Nagar pocket of 500 sq. yds., Trust will suffer a loss of about Rs. 14,35,450/-. It is suggested that this loss can be made good if the Government allows the Trust to auction the plots available in this pocket which will come into possession of the Trust after this deal. 6. D.L.G. fixed another meeting on 19.1.1993 in his office at Chandigarh to assess and review the further progress of this case with all the concerned officers of Town and Country Planning, Deptt., Improvement Trust, Patiala. After examining the modified proposals in respect of the roads under question and 29 unauthorised houses constructed in Trust's land, principally mutually agreed to the above decisions and he further desired that the plans may be suitably modified and presented to the Chief Minister for getting final decision. Thereafter, the necessary amendment under Section 43 of Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922, shall be followed as per the provisions of the Act. 7. After the preliminary appraisal, this entire case was presented to Sh. N.K. Aroara, I.A.S., Secretary, Local Govt. Deptt., in his office, and he is principally agreed to the above decisions but desired that the following facts/issues may also be kept in mind while seeking amendment under Section 43 of the Act ibid : (i) An appropriate agreement may be entered into with the plot- holders and house-owners falling within the 60' x 30' wide road respectively and with the other 29 owners of houses/plots, the possession of which has not yet been taken by the Trust as no payment has been made so far, though the necessary "Award" was announced on 29.7.1978. (ii) That the houses falling South of 60' wide road which is predominantly in the Trust's land may also be reasonably compensated both for the land and the built-up houses which may be evaluated as per P.W.D. norms and guidelines. (iii) S.L.G. further desired that various pieces of land scattered in the Sunder Nagar Colony which have already been paid off and taken possession, may also be sold by way of open auction after providing suitable housing plots to the effected persons. (iv) S.L.G. further desired that the reasonable "Development Charges" may be fixed and charged from all the residents of Sunder Nagar Colony and Ram Nagar Colony whether they are owning built-up houses or residential plots. (v) That the Ram Nagar Colony also situated within the boundaries of this Development Scheme may also be accommodated by suitable coordinating their approaches and other basic services. The residents of Ram Nagar Colony whether they are owning the houses or plots may also be charged the same "Development Charges" as worked out for the Sunder Nagar Colony. 8. That there are certain occupiers of the houses/plots who have got sale agreements in their favour made by the original land owners. Some of them fall in roads area in question and some fall in the list of 29 persons who require to be shifted from the pocket of 500 sq. yds. in the scheme. They may be allotted plots in lieu of the plots they are having in their possession on the terms and conditions which are applicable to all residential plot allottees in the scheme. The compensation for structure should be paid as mentioned above to other house owners on the basis of P.W.D. norms. 9. S.L.G. also asked to amend the layout plan of this sanctioned Development Scheme according to the actual boundaries of the land for which the payment has been made and taken possession by the Improvement Trust and which should incorporate total amendments and the proposals of all Supplementary schemes falling in this original sanctioned Scheme." The decision taken in the said meeting was approved by the State Government and in view of that, C.W.P. No. 175 of 1991 was disposed of by the learned Single Judge along with C.M. Nos. 175 of 1991 and 474 of 1995. The order passed by the learned Single Judge reads as under : "In pursuance of the order passed by this Court on January 12, 1995, Mr. R.K. Chopra has handed over 40 drafts to Mr. M.R. Wadhera, Assistant Engineer of the respondent-Trust, who is present in Court. The amount of these drafts shall be adjusted in respect of the amounts due from the respective petitioners. Counsel for the Improvement Trust-respondent No. 3 states that except for 14 petitioners viz. petitioner Nos. 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, 156, 43, 68 to 71, 73, 74 and 104, the houses of the remaining petitioners shall be adjusted in the Sunder Nagar Colony. He further states that with regard to 14 petitioners as mentioned above, the Trust has decided to allot alternative sites, which would be free from all encumbrances, to each of the petitioners subject to a maximum area of 500 square yards. He further states that this would be subject to their paying development charges and the Trust will give compensation to the aforesaid 14 petitioners for the structure if any on the plots in question and the excess area if any. Mr. R.K. Chopra, learned Counsel for the petitioners accepts this offer made by the learned Counsel for the respondent-Trust and further states that all the petitioners shall deposit or complete deposit of 1/4 of the total amount due within two weeks from today. The payment of remaining amount shall be completed on or before 30.6.1996 in 18 equal monthly instalments. In case of default, the Trust shall be entitled to charge interest at the rate of 15% for the delayed payment. He further states that the Trust shall work out the development charges due from each of the petitioners. Since, the petitioners cannot pay the development charges in lump-sum, the Trust will convey the total amount due from each of the petitioners in accordance with the rules, by taking into consideration the amount of interest accruing on account of the delayed payment, at the rate of 12% per month for a period of 18 months. He further states that the petitioners shall pay or complete payment of 1/4 of the total amount due within 15 days from today. The remaining amount shall be paid in 18 equal monthly instalments which would carry further interest at the rate of 15% per annum. He submits that in view of the fact that the Trust has adjusted the plots of 119 petitioners and decided to allot alternative sites to the other petitioners, the present petition has become infructuous and the same may be disposed of accordingly. In view of the statements made by the respective counsel for the parties, the writ petition is disposed of with the direction that the Trust shall carry out development of the Sunder Nagar Colony on payment of the amount due from the petitioners. The 14 petitioners referred to above shall be allotted alternative plots subject to an area maximum of 500 square yards. The Trust will also pay compensation for the structure if any on these plots or/and for the area that it may take from any of the petitioners. The petitioners shall be liable to deposit the development charges as undertaken by them. In case of their failure to do so at the expiry of 18 months from today viz. June 13, 1996, writ petition in respect of the persons who are defaulters, shall be deemed to have been dismissed. In view of the disposal of the writ petition, Civil Misc. 474 of 1995 and Civil Misc. No. 9305 of 1994 have become infructuous and are accordingly disposed of. Copy of this order be given dasti to the counsel for the parties."
(3.) IN our opinion, the case of the petitioner is fully covered by the decision taken in the meeting held on 19.1.1993 and the decision taken by the Government to grant exemption to the existing constructions or to make allotment to those whose lands fall under the roads.;