Where the governing Manual fixes the date of possession of an industrial plot only after registration of the lease deed, can the allottee resist payment on the ground that possession was not delivered first?
Coram: Surya Kant; Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh
No. The Clause creates a sequential condition wherein registration must precede possession, and the authority is obligated to hand over possession only after registering the lease deed. The insistence of the authority that the allottee furnish the requisite documents for registration of the lease deed is legitimate and in conformity with the prescribed procedure, and an allottee who fails to furnish the necessary documents in a timely manner is itself to blame for the non-delivery of possession.
Manual for Marketing and Management of Industrial Areas — Clause 2.15 — Clause 3.04(vii) — Legal notice — Cancellation of allotment — Public Trust Doctrine — Allocation of public resources — Art. 21 — Manual for Marketing and Management of Industrial Areas — Clause 3.04(vii) — Essential elements of a legal notice — Held: A 'legal notice' connotes an unambiguous communication along with legal consequences to a noticee alleged to be in default, conveying the facts, the impending breach and the intention to hold the other party liable. A communication not captioned a legal notice is not thereby disqualified. (¶22, 23) Manual for Marketing and Management of Industrial Areas — Clause 2.15 — Possession only after registration of lease deed — Held further: Where the Manual fixes the date of possession only after registration of the lease deed, registration must precede possession. An allottee who fails to furnish the documents for registration is itself to blame for non-delivery of possession. (¶15, 16) Cancellation of allotment — inherent right of the allotment authority — judicial intervention circumscribed — Held further: Land allotment authorities possess the inherent right to cancel allotments upon violation of stipulated conditions. Judicial intervention in matters concerning land revocation should be circumscribed to ensure adherence to procedural safeguards. (¶20) Public Trust Doctrine — Art. 21 — Allocation of industrial land without a competitive process — Held further: Allocation of a substantial tract of industrial land without a competitive process fundamentally violates the Public Trust Doctrine, which demands proper procedure and substantive accountability in public resource allocation. Cancellation upheld and appeals dismissed; the subsequent allotment annulled and directions issued. (¶33, 36)
One judgment a day. That's the whole habit.
Read the full text of Kamla Nehru Memorial Trust & Anr. v. U.P. State Industrial Development Corporation Limited & Ors. — and get the Supreme Court's output as a five-minute daily read, with plain-language headnotes and the questions each judgment settles.
Create my free accountFree forever plan · 30 seconds · data stays in India