TMI Blog2009 (8) TMI 1128X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... scretion under Section 48(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short `the Act') to withdraw from the acquisition of land comprised in khasra Nos.35, 369/36, 37, 38, 367/21 and 365/33 of Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, Delhi are illustrative of how the litigants use the courts process for frustrating the acquisition of land for a public purpose for years together and seek equity after raising illegal construction over the acquired land under the cloak of interim order(s) passed by one or the other court. Background Facts: 2. In the aftermath of partition of the country, lakhs of people were forced to leave their habitat, properties, trade, business, etc. in the territory which became Pakistan. Most of them came and settled in northern parts of the country, particularly Punjab and Delhi. Out of sheer compulsion, they constructed houses, etc. without proper layouts and planning. Initially, the Government did not pay much attention to the haphazard construction of houses and the growth of unplanned colonies, but with rapid increase in population of the city on account of influx of thousands of people from other parts of the country, it was realized that planned d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and 10 were issued in 1976 and the award was made on 22.12.1980. 7. Shri Amrit Lal Khanna, who is said to have purchased 26 bighas of land comprised in khasra Nos.35, 369/36 and 37 in Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, Delhi along with three others, namely, S/Shri Srivastava, Naresh Kumar and Gopal Kishan from Shri Parmeshwar Lal vide sale deed dated 31.1.1969 challenged notification dated 23.1.1965 in W.P. No.1753/1980. He also filed an application for interim relief. By an order dated 9.12.1980, the High Court restrained the respondents in the writ petition from dispossessing the petitioner. The writ petition was finally dismissed by the Full Bench along with other cases. 8. While the writ petition filed by Shri Amrit Lal Khanna was pending, Shri Satish Khosla (appellant No.2 in one of the appeals) got registered a company in the name and style of Shanti India Private Limited under the Companies Act, 1956 and a society in the name of Shanti Sports Club under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Between 1990-1993, Shri Satish Khosla appears to have entered into some arrangement/agreement with Shri Amrit Lal Khanna and other land owners and got possession of land bearing kha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thout obstructing the plaintiff's access to the suit property. In the second suit bearing No.1544/1993 which was filed on 13.7.1993, appellant No.2 herein joined S/Shri Atma Ram and Amrit Lal Khanna as plaintiffs and prayed that DDA be restrained from dispossessing them or interfering with their possession or demolishing or sealing any part of existing structure. The subject matter of second suit was identical to the one for which earlier suit had been instituted. In the plaint, all the plaintiffs were described as owners of the property measuring 38 bighas 13 biswas and it was pleaded that a sports club in the name of Shanti Sports Club of India was built by plaintiff No.3, Shri Satish Khosla. It was alleged that officers of the DDA have demolished certain structures in Village Kishangarh on 29.6.1993 and threatened to demolish the suit property. In the second suit also an order of injunction was passed on 15.7.1993. 11. After filing Writ Petition No.4777/1993, Shri Satish Khosla instituted third suit bearing No.2865/1995 in his own name and that of Shri Amrit Lal Khanna claiming that they were Bhumidars of khasra Nos.35, 369/36 and 37 of Village Masudpur, Tehsil Mehrauli, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No.8269/1993 and dismissed the same by recording the following observations: 181. Most of the points raised in this writ petition are common with the main points already discussed by us. However, Mr. G. L. Sanghi, Senior Advocate, who appeared for the applicant in C.M. 8269/93 has urged that the land in question has been developed into a sports complex and modern amenities have been provided and it would be national waste in allowing such constructions to be demolished. 182. It is urged that the applicant has acquired this land in 1969 before coming into force of the Delhi Land (Restrictions on Transfer) Act, 1972 and thus, there was no bar in the transferee raising constructions. However, it is the admitted fact that all these constructions have been raised after issuance of the notification under Section 4 of the Act. These constructions have been raised obviously with complete knowledge of the fact that this land is liable to be acquired for public purpose. It is true that transferee of the land such as the applicant is entitled to same benefits and rights as the transferor (See Smt. Gunwant Kaur v. Municipal Committee, Bhatinda, AIR 1970 SC 802). However, unless and unti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted that there are a large number of structures and complexes raised on the land sought to be acquired in which schools, sports and other recreational activities are going on. Shri G.L. Sanghi, learned counsel appearing for the appellants in Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 5771 of 1996 and Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 740 of 1996 as well as other advocates appearing for some other appellants submitted that there exist factories, workshops, godowns and MCD school besides residential houses and quarters over the land belonging to the appellant Partap Singh situated at Roshanara Road, Sabzi Mandi, Delhi which has been acquired and that there exists modern and well-developed farmhouse with modern facilities in the land belonging to the appellant Roshanara Begum, where there are a good number of other structures and fruit-bearing trees. Consequently these areas do not require further development as they are already developed and, therefore, the said land should be released from acquisition. Mr Sanghi, learned counsel appearing for some of the appellants urged that the appellant concerned had developed a sports complex providing modern amenities therein and if the same ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anding and to exempt the rest of the property from its application. In the present case also a large extent of land measuring thousands of acres has been acquired and, therefore, it would not be proper to leave out some small portions here and there over which some structures are said to be constructed out of the planned development of Delhi. We may, however, add here that during the course of the arguments Shri Goswami, learned counsel appearing for the respondents-State made a statement that the Government will consider each of the structures and take a decision in that respect. We, therefore, leave this issue to the discretion of the respondent. [Emphasis added] 15. By taking cue from the observations made by the High Court in last portion of paragraph 182 of its judgment and the statement made by the State's counsel before this Court, which finds mention in the last part of para 21 of the judgment reported in (1999) 1 SCC 15, a representation was made on behalf of appellant no.1 on 3.10.1997 to various functionaries of the Government and DDA for release of the land under Section 48(1) of the Act on the ground that several parcels of the acquired land have already ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1-14), 37 (8-13), 38 min (7-0) and 354/33 (4-04). Sir, I am directed to refer to your representation dated 3.6.99 submitted to this Ministry representation dated 8.6.99 enclosed as Annexure to the Writ Petition on the above mentioned subject and to say that the matter has been examined in consultation with DDA. The Development on the land has taken place after the acquisition of land was completed and award was declared. The land has been acquired for the Vasant Kunj Residential Project which has been held up due to prolonged litigation. Apart from these the Hon'ble High Court in CWP No. 1753/80 filed by Shri Amrit Lal Khanna and subsequently the Hon'ble Supreme Court have upheld the acquisition proceedings in favour of the Government. 2. Therefore, it has been decided that your request to denotify the above land cannot be acceded as the land is required for public purpose. This is for your information. 3. This issues with approval of the competent authority. Yours faithfully, Sd/- (R.C. Nayak) Under Secretary (DDVA) 17. The appellants challenged the aforementioned decision of the Government in Writ Petition No.3277/2000 mainly on the following ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er affidavit it was averred that the construction was made in clear violation of the existing master plan. It was further averred that even in the master plan of 2001, the permitted use of the land in question is partly residential and partly rural; that residential portion of the land is to be used for Vasant Kunj Residential Scheme of DDA, which was held up due to protective orders of injunction passed by different courts and that in the rural zone, only rural centre, public and semi public facilities, orchards, plants, nurseries, wireless and transmission, forest and extractive industries and LNP are permitted. 20. The Division Bench of the High Court heard Writ Petition No.4777 of 1993 along with Writ Petition No.3277 of 2000 and dismissed both the writ petitions after threadbare consideration of various issues raised by the parties. The Division Bench referred to the notings recorded in the file in the context of representations made by the appellants including note dated 8.6.1999 recorded by the then Minister for Urban Development leaving the matter to his successor and observed: ...........We fail to appreciate the argument advanced on behalf of the petitioners th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... argument that as per the lay out plan of the Vasant Kunj, only 11 bighas 14 biswas was required for the housing scheme and the petitioners are prepared to part with that portion of the land and rejected the same by recording the following observations:- ..........Respondent no.5 in his counter affidavit dated August 5, 2000 has clearly stated that the land is required for development schemes of the DDA. It is pointed out that because of the illegal construction made by the petitions during the operation of the restraint orders the housing scheme of the DDA has been held up resulting in loss to the public. The affidavit also alludes to the fact that the land for peripheral road in Sector D-7 and land meant for primary school and dispensary has been encroached upon by the petitions. According to the affidavit, the permitted land use in the area is as follows:- (1) Partly residential. (2) Partly for rural use. The affidavit goes on to state that the Technical Committee of the DDA has mooted a proposal for change of land use from rural use to 'residential use', keeping in view the need of lakhs of applicants who are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... if some other lands have been de-notified under Section 48(1), the same would be contrary to the purpose of acquisition and one wrong cannot justify another wrong. 25. Shri Mukul Rohtagi, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellants argued with his usual vehemence that the decision taken by the then Minister for Urban Development on 8.6.1999 for regularization of the construction made on the land in question was final and his successor was not justified in reviewing/reversing the same. He submitted that the Government is bound to respect the decision taken by the then Minister in favour of the appellant and mere change of portfolio or absence of formal notification under Section 48(1) of the Act cannot denude the earlier decision of its sanctity. Shri Rohtagi emphasized that if the decision taken by one Minister is overruled or overturned by his successor, the credibility of the Government will become questionable. Learned senior counsel further argued that even if the note recorded in the file by the then Minister for Urban Development on 8.6.1999 is not treated as a decision taken by the Government under Section 48(1) of the Act, rejection of the appellants representati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ally submitted that this Court should not grant any indulgence to the appellants because they constructed the so called sports complex knowing fully well that the land in question had already been acquired. Ms. Jaising submitted that the appellants had no business to raise construction on the acquired land because they do not have any title over it. She referred to Section 3 of the 1972 Act and argued that in the face of unequivocal prohibition against transfer of the acquired land, the appellants could not have constructed the building and that too without obtaining sanction or permission from any competent authority. 27. In the light of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, we shall now consider whether note dated 8.6.1999 recorded by the then Minister for Urban Development can be treated as a decision of the Government to withdraw from the acquisition of land in question in terms of Section 48(1) of the Act, which lays down that except in the case provided for in Section 36, the Government shall be at liberty to withdraw from the acquisition of any land of which possession has not been taken. Although, the plain language of Section 48(1) does not give a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he acquisition of land is kept secret and is not published in the official gazette, there is every likelihood that unscrupulous land owners, their agents and wheeler-dealers may pull strings in the power corridors and clandestinely get the land released from acquisition and thereby defeat the public purpose for which the land is acquired. Similarly, the company on whose behalf the land is acquired may suffer incalculable harm by unpublished decision of the Government to withdraw from the acquisition. 28. The requirement of issuing a notification for exercise of power under Section 48(1) of the Act to withdraw from the acquisition of the land can also be inferred from the judgments of this Court in Municipal Committee, Bhatinda v. Land Acquisition Collector and others (1993) 3 SCC 24 (para 8), U.P. State Sugar Corporation Ltd. v. State of U.P. and others (1995) Supp 3 SCC 538 (para 3), State of Maharashtra and another v. Umashankar Rajabhau and others (1996) 1 SCC 299 (para 3) and State of T.N. and others v. L. Krishnan and others (1996) 7 SCC 450 (para 7). In Larsen Toubro Ltd. v. State of Gujarat and others (1998) 4 SCC 387, the Court considered the question whether the power ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ctor an opportunity of being heard and after hearing of such objections and after making such further enquiry, if any, as the Collector thinks necessary, is to make a report to the State Government for its decision. Then the decision of the State Government on the objections is final. Before the applicability of other provisions in the process of acquisition, in the case of a company, previous consent of the State Government is required under Section 39 of the Act nor (sic) unless the company shall have executed the agreement as provided in Section 41 of the Act. Before giving such consent, Section 40 contemplates a previous enquiry. Then compliance with Rules 3 and 4 of the Land Acquisition (Company) Rules, 1963 is mandatorily required. After the stage of Sections 40 and 41 is reached, the agreement so entered into by the company with the State Government is to be published in the Official Gazette. This is Section 42 of the Act which provides that the agreement on its publication would have the same effect as if it had formed part of the Act. After having done all this, the State Government cannot unilaterally and without notice to the company withdraw from acquisition. Opportunit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on behalf of the Government. A noting recorded in the file is merely a noting simpliciter and nothing more. It merely represents expression of opinion by the particular individual. By no stretch of imagination, such noting can be treated as a decision of the Government. Even if the competent authority records its opinion in the file on the merits of the matter under consideration, the same cannot be termed as a decision of the Government unless it is sanctified and acted upon by issuing an order in accordance with Article 77(1) and (2) or Article 166(1) and (2). The noting in the file or even a decision gets culminated into an order affecting right of the parties only when it is expressed in the name of the President or the Governor, as the case may be, and authenticated in the manner provided in Article 77(2) or Article 166(2). A noting or even a decision recorded in the file can always be reviewed/reversed/overruled or overturned and the court cannot take cognizance of the earlier noting or decision for exercise of the power of judicial review. 30. In State of Punjab v. Sodhi Sukhdev Singh AIR 1961 SC 493, this Court considered the question whether a provisional decision taken ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... han an adviser and that the head of the State, the Governor or Rajpramukh (Till the abolition of that office by the Amendment of the Constitution in 1956), is to act with the aid and advice of his Council of Ministers. Therefore, until such advice is accepted by the Governor whatever the Minister or the Council of Ministers may say in regard to a particular matter does not become the action of the State until the advice of the Council of Ministers is accepted or deemed to be accepted by the Head of the State. Indeed, it is possible that after expressing one opinion about a particular matter at a particular stage a Minister or the Council of Ministers may express quite a different opinion, one which may be completely opposed to the earlier opinion. Which of them can be regarded as the 'order' of the State Government ? Therefore to make the opinion amount to a decision of the Government it must be communicated to the person concerned. In this connection we may quote the following from the judgment of this Court in the State of Punjab v. Sodhi Sukhdev Singh. Mr. Gopal Singh attempted to argue that before the final order was passed the Council of Ministers had decided to ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r executed by the Governor. (3) The Governor shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the government of the State, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business insofar as it is not business with respect to which the Governor is by or under this Constitution required to act in his discretion. 15. Article 166(1) requires that all executive action of the State Government shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Governor. This clause relates to cases where the executive action has to be expressed in the shape of a formal order or notification. It prescribes the mode in which an executive action has to be expressed. Noting by an official in the departmental file will not, therefore, come within this article nor even noting by a Minister. Every executive decision need not be as laid down under Article 166(1) but when it takes the form of an order it has to comply with Article 166(1). Article 166(2) states that orders and other instruments made and executed under Article 166(1), shall be authenticated in the manner prescribed. While clause (1) relates to the mode of expression, clause (2) lays down the manner in which the order is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court approved the High Court's refusal to interfere with DDA's decision and observed: It is trite to state that notings in a departmental file do not have the sanction of law to be an effective order. A noting by an officer is an expression of his viewpoint on the subject. It is no more than an opinion by an officer for internal use and consideration of the other officials of the department and for the benefit of the final decision-making authority. Needless to add that internal notings are not meant for outside exposure. Notings in the file culminate into an executable order, affecting the rights of the parties, only when it reaches the final decision-making authority in the department, gets his approval and the final order is communicated to the person concerned. 35. In C.W.P. No.325/1982 - Ram Phal v. Union of India, which was decided by the Full Bench of the High Court along with other cases, vide Roshanara Begum v. Union of India, an application was moved by the petitioners with the prayer that the acquisition proceedings may be quashed because the Central Government has issued an order under Section 48(1) of the Act for withdrawal of the acquisition proceedi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ny monetary loss or any other inconveniences in entering into any deals in respect of such land, subject-matter of compulsory acquisition. As an analogy of the purpose enshrined in notification issued under Section 4 and declaration issued under Section 6 for their publication in Official Gazette is also, in our view, linked to the order which is made under Section 48 of the Act for withdrawing from such acquisition and unless the same is also published in the manner as the original notifications, the said object could not be achieved i.e. of giving public notice to the public at large. 37. As a result of the above discussion, we hold that the noting recorded in the official files by the officers of the Government at different levels and even the Ministers do not become decision of the Government unless the same is sanctified and acted upon by issuing an order in the name of the President or Governor, as the case may, authenticated in the manner provided in Articles 77(2) and 166(2) and is communicated to the affected persons. The notings and/or decisions recorded in the file do not confer any right or adversely affect the right of any person and the same can neither be challen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of land in village Digha for the purpose of construction of houses by the Bihar State Housing Board. After consideration of objections, declaration under Section 6 was issued and published on 20.2.1976. On 8.11.1976, a representation was made by one Mr. Ram Avtar Shastri, Member of Parliament for withdrawing the acquisition proceedings. The same was rejected in December, 1976. However, before compensation could be disbursed to the land owners, general elections were announced and, therefore, the matter was deferred and put in cold storage. On 24.5.1980, 4.03 acres land belonging to Pandey families was released from acquisition. In the same year, a writ petition was filed in the High Court challenging release of land in favour of Pandey families but the same was withdrawn. In May 1981, another writ petition was filed on the same subject and it was pleaded that release of land in favour of Pandey families is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The State Government supported the release of land in favour of Pandey families by asserting that they had put up buildings with boundary walls in the entire area covered by 4.03 acres and that it would have been difficult for governme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arised according to the decision of the Cabinet. Thereafter, Deputy Secretary, Urban Development and Housing Department wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Housing Board that the Government has decided to release the land of the society. A copy of the letter was marked to the society. During the pendency of writ petition before this Court, an additional affidavit of the Secretary, Rajasthan Housing Board was filed with a categorical assertion that at no point of time any notification was issued withdrawing from the acquisition and the Beri Commission, which was constituted to look into the illegalities and irregularities committed by functionaries and officials of the previous Government, recorded a categorical finding that the decision to de-acquire the land of the petitioner - society was in contravention of the earlier decision of the Cabinet and was also contrary to law and against public interest. This Court held that the notings recorded by the Minister and Chief Minister for release of land in favour of the society, were totally unjustified. 41. The next question which needs consideration is whether the decision contained in letter dated 9.6.2000 is liable to be nullif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t which finds mention in paragraph 21 of the judgment in Murari v. Union of India (supra) was neither here nor there. It did not amount to a commitment on behalf of the Government that representations made for release of land will receive favourable consideration. In any case, once this Court had made it clear in Murari v. Union of India (supra) that in a matter involving acquisition of thousands of acres of land, it would not be proper to leave out some small portions here and there over which some construction may have been made, the decision of the Government not to withdraw from the acquisition of the land in question cannot be faulted. 43. The appellants' plea that the Government ought to have de- notified the land covered by the sports complex because the same has been built by spending crores of rupees and is being used by a large section of people sounds attractive, but, after having given serious thought to the entire matter, we are convinced that the Government rightly refused to exercise discretion under Section 48(1) of the Act for de-notifying the acquired land and the High Court did not commit any error whatsoever by refusing to fall in the trap of alluring arg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mpetent authority, transfer or purport to transfer by sale, mortgage, gift, lease or otherwise any land or part thereof situated in the Union territory of Delhi, which is proposed to be acquired in connection with the Scheme and in relation to which a declaration to the effect that such land or part thereof is needed for a public purpose having been made by the Central Government under section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, (1 of 1894) the Central Government has not withdrawn form the acquisition under section 48 of that Act. 45. The distinction between the above reproduced two provisions is that while Section 3 contains an absolute prohibition on transfer of the acquired land by sale, mortgage, gift, lease or otherwise, Section 4 declares that no person shall, except with the previous permission in writing of the competent authority, transfer or purport to transfer by sale etc. of any land or part thereof, which is proposed to be acquired in connection with the scheme and in relation to which a declaration to the effect that such land or part thereof is needed for a public purpose has been made by the Central Government and the Central Government has not withdrawn from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... without being noticed by any of the authorities entrusted with the duty of checking illegal/unauthorised construction. This mystery may perhaps never be solved because the officers responsible for ignoring the blatant violation of Section 3 of the 1972 Act, Delhi Development Authority Act and Building Rules, Regulations and By-laws must have either retired or moved to higher positions in the administration where they will be able to block any inquiry in the matter. Be that as it may, such illegal constructions cannot be protected by the court by nullifying the decision taken by the Government not to withdraw from the acquisition of the land in question. 48. At this stage, we may also take cognizance of the commercial activities being undertaken in what has been described by the appellants as sports complex simpliciter. The nature and magnitude of the commercial activities may never have been revealed but for the fact that the officer representing the respondents could bring to the High Court's notice the written statement filed by Shri Satish Khosla in Suit No. 3064/1996 - M/s. Eli Lilly Ranbaxy Ltd. and others v. Satish Khosla. In that suit, the plaintiff had sought a decre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the plaintiffs are entitled to a decree of permanent injunction restraining the defendant from hiring out the garden for functions and parties during the tenure of the alleged lease agreement. The revenue generated from hiring out the garden for functions and parties is significant revenue and is necessary for the proper and efficient running of the Club and these functions and parties are the very life and soul of the Club. The aforesaid averments made in the written statement filed by Shri Satish Khosla in the above noted suit clearly reveal that the cottages at the club and its lawns are being used for commercial and rental purposes. In respect of cottage No. 6 alone the club was charging large amounts as per below under various agreements. These details are as follows:- 1. According to the lease agreement by and between the club and M/s.Eli Lilly Ranbaxy Ltd. the latter was required to pay a rental of ₹ 60,000/- p.m. to the former during the first year of the lease. 2. The rent was liable to be increased by 5% after the first years, 10% over the last rent paid after second year and every year thereafter. 3. Agreement stipulated payment of advance rent in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the Government for refusing to release their land are irrelevant or extraneous. Vague and bald assertions made in the writ petition cannot be made basis for recording a finding that the appellants have been subjected to invidious or hostile discrimination. That apart, we are prima facie of the view that the Government's decision to withdraw from the acquisition of some parcels of land in favour of some individuals was not in public interest. Such decisions had, to some extent, resulted in defeating the object of planned development of Delhi on which considerable emphasis has been laid by the Full Bench of the High Court and this Court. This being the position, Article 14 cannot be invoked by the appellants for seeking a direction to the respondents to withdraw from the acquisition of the land in question. Article 14 of the Constitution declares that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. The concept of equality enshrined in that Article is a positive concept. The Court can command the State to give equal treatment to similarly situated persons, but cannot issue a mandate that the Stat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ustainable in law and indefensible in principle. Since we have come across many such instances, we think it necessary to deal with such pleas at a little length. Generally speaking, the mere fact that the respondent-authority has passed a particular order in the case of another person similarly situated can never be the ground for issuing a writ in favour of the petitioner on the plea of discrimination. The order in favour of the other person might be legal and valid or it might not be. That has to be investigated first before it can be directed to be followed in the case of the petitioner. If the order in favour of the other person is found to be contrary to law or not warranted in the facts and circumstances of his case, it is obvious that such illegal or unwarranted order cannot be made the basis of issuing a writ compelling the respondent-authority to repeat the illegality or to pass another unwarranted order. The extraordinary and discretionary power of the High Court cannot be exercised for such a purpose. Merely because the respondent-authority has passed one illegal/unwarranted order, it does not entitle the High Court to compel the authority to repeat that illegality over ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 973) 2 SCC 265, Gursharan Singh v. New Delhi Municipal Committee (1996) 2 SCC 459, Secretary, Jaipur Development Authority v. Daulat Mal Jain (supra), Yadu Nandan Garg v. State of Rajasthan and others (supra), State of Haryana v. Ram Kumar Mann [(1997) 3 SCC 321, Faridabad CT. Scan Centre v. D.G. Health Services [(1997) 7 SCC 752], Style (Dress land) v. Union Territory, Chandigarh [(1999) 7 SCC 89], State of Bihar v. Kameshwar Prasad Singh (2000) 9 SCC 94, Union of India v. International Trading Co. (2003) 5 SCC 437, Ekta Sakthi Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi (2006) 10 SCC 337, Sanjay Kumar Munjal v. Chairman, UPSC (2006) 8 SCC 42, K.K. Bhalla v. State of M.P. and others (2006) 3 SCC 581, National Institute of Technology v. Chandra Sekhar Chaudhary (2007) 1 SCC 93, Vice Chancellor, M.D. University, Rohtak v. Jahan Singh (2007) 5 SCC 77, State of Kerala and others v. K. Prasad and another (2007) 7 SCC 140, Punjab State Electricity Board and others v. Gurmail Singh (2008) 7 SCC 245 and Panchi Devi v. State of Rajasthan and others (2009) 2 SCC 589. 52. Before concluding, we consider it necessary to enter a caveat. In all developed countries, great emphasis has been laid on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is used for a purpose other than the one specified in the relevant statute or the master plan etc., such constructions put unbearable burden on the public facilities/amenities like water, electricity, sewerage etc. apart from creating chaos on the roads. The pollution caused due to traffic congestion affects the health of the road users. The pedestrians and people belonging to weaker sections of the society, who cannot afford the luxury of air-conditioned cars, are the worst victims of pollution. They suffer from skin diseases of different types, asthma, allergies and even more dreaded diseases like cancer. It can only be a matter of imagination how much the government has to spend on the treatment of such persons and also for controlling pollution and adverse impact on the environment due to traffic congestion on the roads and chaotic conditions created due to illegal and unauthorized constructions. This Court has, from time to time, taken cognizance of buildings constructed in violation of municipal and other laws and emphasized that no compromise should be made with the town planning scheme and no relief should be given to the violator of the town planning scheme etc. on the gr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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