Can a developer be fastened with liability for a developmental authority's failure to provide promised access infrastructure?
Coram: Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha · Justice Alok Aradhe
A developer cannot be fastened with liability for a developmental authority's failure to provide promised access infrastructure.
No. A developer cannot be expected to proceed with a project on its original site plan, nor fastened with liability, where a developmental authority has failed to discharge its own obligation to provide promised access infrastructure; denial of policy relief and refusal to sanction a revised site plan in such circumstances is unreasonable and untenable in law. (¶42)
Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 — NOIDA Zero Period Policy — Interpretation of policy — Adequate access — Developer's liability — Interpretation of governmental policy — Purposive, not statutory — Held: The provisions of a governmental policy, such as NOIDA's Zero Period Policy, are not interpreted like the provisions of a statute; a court must read the clause for its purpose and object, from both a micro and macro perspective. (¶34) Zero Period Policy — Clause 5 — Adequate access standard — Held further: Partial or some access to an allotted plot does not exempt a developmental authority from its obligation to provide easy, effective and legitimate access; where adequate access is not in fact provided, the policy's benefit cannot be denied. (¶33, 35) Developmental authority's default — No liability on developer — Held further: A developer cannot be fastened with liability for a developmental authority's failure to provide promised access infrastructure; denial of policy relief in such circumstances is unreasonable and untenable in law. Appeals dismissed. (¶42, 44)
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