DEHRADUN: Amid deliberations on promulgating legislation by the state govt to curtail the acquisition of “surplus” land by “non-residents” in Uttarakhand, the high court (HC), while hearing a petition pertaining to the annulment of a land lease granted to a residential venture, has quashed the directive issued by the authorities and instructed them to issue a notice to the builder prior to commencing any such proceedings.
The petitioner, Delhi Apartments Pvt Ltd (DAPL), was allocated five plots on lease in State Infrastructure & Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (SIIDCUL) Haridwar for the construction of residential apartments and commercial edifices. DAPL has started construction on four plots, while the project on the fifth plot has not yet commenced, the lease of which has been revoked.
The regional manager of SIIDCUL issued the order of cancelling the lease deed on Aug 22, which the petitioner challenged in the HC. The petitioner’s counsel said that DAPL was granted a lease for five plots in sector 5A of SIIDCUL, Haridwar. “Before cancellation, no opportunity of hearing was given to the petitioner,” he said.
In the last hearing on Sep 23, the HC had directed the counsel for the respondents to inform whether the petitioner was given any opportunity of being heard before cancelling the lease deed. During the hearing on Friday, the counsel for SIIDCUL told the court that no show cause notice was issued to the petitioner before cancelling the lease of the fifth plot.
After the hearing, a single bench of Pankaj Purohit cancelled the order issued in Aug and directed the respondents to proceed with the matter after giving the petitioner a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
