M.R.Sharma, J. - (1.) This petition has been filed by the Atam Nagar Co-operative House Building Society Ltd., Ludhiana, (hereinafter referred to as the Society). The Improvement Trust, Ludhiana, adopted two schemes for the urban development. Some persons approached. it for allotment of plots and the Chairman of the Trust gave them an assurance that if they formed a cooperative society their request would be favourably considered. Pursuant to that assurance, the petitioner-society had come into existence on Oct. 24, 1964. On the application of the society, the land purchased by this Society was exempted from the operation of the provisions of the scheme. This is apparent from the following letter written on 13-7-1969 by the Executive officer, Town Improvement Trust, Ludhiana,. to its Land Acquisition Officer: "You are informed that the Trust vide its Resolution No. 23 which was passed unanimously on 2-7-1969 has agreed to exempt the land purchased by the Atam Nagar Co-op. House Building Society in Model Town Extension (V. Gill Nos. 1 and 2) details of which are indicated therein. A copy of the resolution is enclosed herewith."
(2.) On 5-11-1964 the Chairman of the Trust wrote to the Society that 200 residential plots shall be allotted to it, as soon as the possession of the land was taken. On 19-8-1966 the Chairman asked the Society to deposit a sum of Rupees 5,71,050.00 as the price of 90 plots allotted to it which was also done. Later on at the instance of some of the land-owners whose land was sought to be acquired, scheme No. 2 was quashed by this Court on the ground that a period of more than 3 years had intervened between the time when the Trust issued the earlier notification regarding its intention to acquire the land and the second notification relating to the actual acquisition. On the basis of the judgment the Trust scrapped scheme No. 1 also in which the petitioner-society had been promised the allotment of plots.
(3.) When a new scheme of the same type was adopted the Trust declined to honour its earlier commitments and to offer residential plots to the petitioner- society. The request made by the latter that the land purchased by it should be exempted from the operation of the scheme was also turned down. The 'society has come up in the instant petition against the action of the Trust.;