The Bombay High Court Nagpur Bench has quashed the re-introduction of reservation on lands owned by Leenaben Natwar Patel and seven others from Gondia and Gujarat in the revised Development Plan of Gondia. A division bench of Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke and Justice Nivedita P. Mehta allowed the writ petition filed by Smt. Leenaben Natwar Patel and others. The court held that once reservation of land lapses under Section 127 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966 due to failure of acquisition within the prescribed period, such reservation cannot be revived in a revised Development Plan. The petitioners had challenged the revised Development Plan in which their lands at Mouza Gondia were again shown under Development Plan roads and partly placed in a “No Development Zone” on the basis of flood line maps.

 

The High Court observed that no acquisition proceedings were initiated despite service of purchase notices and therefore the reservation had automatically lapsed by operation of law. The bench held that the petitioners’ rights had crystallised and could not be taken away by reintroducing the reservation. The court further noted that the flood line classification was applied inconsistently and without following proper procedure such as publication and inviting objections from affected landowners. It held that placing the petitioners’ developed lands in a “No Development Zone” without justification was arbitrary and violative of property rights. The court directed the Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Municipal Council Gondia and the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department, Gondia, to make necessary corrections in the Development Plan records. The lands have been declared available for development as per applicable regulations. Advocate S N Tapadia appeared for the petitioners on behalf of Advocate V R Mundra, while AGP A B Badar and Advocate M I Dhatrak represented the respondents.