2007 JTR(SC) 1643
2008 2 SCC 141 ; 2008 KHC 4369 ; 2007 8 Supreme 725
2007(8) Supreme 725
Supreme Court of india
(From Delhi High Court)
S.B. Sinha & Harjit Singh Bedi, JJ.
Mount Carmel School Society — Petitioners
versus
D.D.A. — Respondent
Appeal (civil) 5944 of 2007
(Arising out of SLP (C) No.3251 of 2006)
Decided on : 14-12-2007
(A) The relevant statutory framework governing land allotment by development authorities, where no specific enabling statutes are indexed, proceeds on the principles of administrative discretion, policy decisions, and procedural fairness. The case examines whether a competent authority, having received recommendations for allotment of a specific acreage from an Institutional Allotment Committee, can lawfully depart from such recommendations and allot a lesser quantity without incurring error, and whether the absence of a reasoned order or adequate recording of dissent, coupled with procedural defaults such as failure to furnish bank certificates or execute required undertakings, impacts the validity of the allotment decision. The Delhi Master Plans stipulations for land use for educational purposes and the Central Governments role in determining land rates are central considerations under the extant administrative and land allocation regime.
(B) Key legal principles include: (i) administrative authorities must act within the scope of their policy decisions and are bound by their own procedures; (ii) recommendations of an Institutional Allotment Committee are not binding but must be considered cogently; (iii) a policy decision to allot less land than recommended is subject to justification and must align with the Master Plan; (iv) procedural requirements such as furnishing bank certificates and executing undertakings are prerequisites for allotment; (v) lack of specificity in allegations of discrimination and failure to raise the issue before the Single Judge preclude judicial interference; (vi) a reasoned record is essential for appellate review; and (vii) the Central Governments approval of land rates precludes excessive delegation challenges.
Facts of the case:
An institutional society registered under the Societies Registration Act applied to the Delhi Development Authority for allotment of four acres of land for a senior secondary school. The Institutional Allotment Committee recommended allotment of four acres, and another society (Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society) was allotted four acres. The Authority, however, took a policy decision to allot only two acres to the appellant, while Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society received four acres earlier. The appellant was asked for clarifications and a provisional allotment was made but not finalized due to alleged failure to furnish bank certificates and execute an undertaking. The impugned policy decision was taken in October 1999, and no allotment of four acres was made after that date. The plea of discrimination was vague and not specifically raised before the Single Judge. The High Court dismissed the writ petitions, and this appeal followed.
Findings of Court:
The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court found no error in the impugned judgment. It held that the High Court correctly appraised the factual matrix, including the Committee recommendations, the policy decision to allot two acres, the procedural defaults by the appellant, and the absence of a reasoned order or specific allegations of discrimination. The Court accepted that the Central Government had determined land rates and that there was no excessive delegation of power. The appellants belated reliance on discrimination and the lack of a record raising the issue at the Single Judge stage were deemed unsustainable.
Issues:
(i) Whether the Delhi Development Authority could allot less land than recommended by the Institutional Allotment Committee. (ii) Whether the omission to consider the plea of discrimination, which was not specifically pleaded or raised before the Single Judge, warrants interference. (iii) Whether the policy decision to allot two acres instead of four acres was valid in view of the Master Plan and Central Government prescriptions. (iv) Whether the procedural defaults (bank certificate, undertaking) justify non-allotment of land.
Ratio Decidendi:
The court held that in the absence of specific allegations, proper pleading, and a record raised before the Single Judge, the High Court was entitled to pass the impugned order. The policy decision of the Authority, aligned with the Master Plan and Central Government guidelines, was not vitiated by the mere existence of Committee recommendations. Procedural defaults and lack of timely clarification further supported the denial of relief, and the absence of a reasoned order did not attract error inasmuch as the same Bench had previously heard and dismissed other appeals without recording reasons.
Result:
The appeal is dismissed with costs, affirming the impugned judgment and order of the Delhi High Court.
(A) The relevant statutory framework governing land allotment by development authorities, where no specific enabling statutes are indexed, proceeds on the principles of administrative discretion, policy decisions, and procedural fairness. The case examines whether a competent authority, having received recommendations for allotment of a specific acreage from an Institutional Allotment Committee, can lawfully depart from such recommendations and allot a lesser quantity without incurring error, and whether the absence of a reasoned order or adequate recording of dissent, coupled with procedural defaults such as failure to furnish bank certificates or execute required undertakings, impacts the validity of the allotment decision. The Delhi Master Plans stipulations for land use for educational purposes and the Central Governments role in determining land rates are central considerations under the extant administrative and land allocation regime.
(B) Key legal principles include: (i) administrative authorities must act within the scope of their policy decisions and are bound by their own procedures; (ii) recommendations of an Institutional Allotment Committee are not binding but must be considered cogently; (iii) a policy decision to allot less land than recommended is subject to justification and must align with the Master Plan; (iv) procedural requirements such as furnishing bank certificates and executing undertakings are prerequisites for allotment; (v) lack of specificity in allegations of discrimination and failure to raise the issue before the Single Judge preclude judicial interference; (vi) a reasoned record is essential for appellate review; and (vii) the Central Governments approval of land rates precludes excessive delegation challenges.
Facts of the case:
An institutional society registered under the Societies Registration Act applied to the Delhi Development Authority for allotment of four acres of land for a senior secondary school. The Institutional Allotment Committee recommended allotment of four acres, and another society (Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society) was allotted four acres. The Authority, however, took a policy decision to allot only two acres to the appellant, while Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society received four acres earlier. The appellant was asked for clarifications and a provisional allotment was made but not finalized due to alleged failure to furnish bank certificates and execute an undertaking. The impugned policy decision was taken in October 1999, and no allotment of four acres was made after that date. The plea of discrimination was vague and not specifically raised before the Single Judge. The High Court dismissed the writ petitions, and this appeal followed.
Findings of Court:
The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court found no error in the impugned judgment. It held that the High Court correctly appraised the factual matrix, including the Committee recommendations, the policy decision to allot two acres, the procedural defaults by the appellant, and the absence of a reasoned order or specific allegations of discrimination. The Court accepted that the Central Government had determined land rates and that there was no excessive delegation of power. The appellants belated reliance on discrimination and the lack of a record raising the issue at the Single Judge stage were deemed unsustainable.
Issues:
(i) Whether the Delhi Development Authority could allot less land than recommended by the Institutional Allotment Committee. (ii) Whether the omission to consider the plea of discrimination, which was not specifically pleaded or raised before the Single Judge, warrants interference. (iii) Whether the policy decision to allot two acres instead of four acres was valid in view of the Master Plan and Central Government prescriptions. (iv) Whether the procedural defaults (bank certificate, undertaking) justify non-allotment of land.
Ratio Decidendi:
The court held that in the absence of specific allegations, proper pleading, and a record raised before the Single Judge, the High Court was entitled to pass the impugned order. The policy decision of the Authority, aligned with the Master Plan and Central Government guidelines, was not vitiated by the mere existence of Committee recommendations. Procedural defaults and lack of timely clarification further supported the denial of relief, and the absence of a reasoned order did not attract error inasmuch as the same Bench had previously heard and dismissed other appeals without recording reasons.
Result:
The appeal is dismissed with costs, affirming the impugned judgment and order of the Delhi High Court.
JUDGMENT
S.B. Sinha, J. —
1.Leave granted.
2.This appeal is directed against a judgment and order of a Division Bench of Delhi High Court dated 7.9.2005 passed in LPA No.404 of 2003.
3.Appellant is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act. It runs an educational institution. It applied for allotment of four acres of land for running a senior secondary school before the Delhi Development Authority. The Institutional Allotment Committee which was constituted by the Authority, made recommendations for allotment of four acres of land. Indisputably the competent authority of the DDA took a policy decision only to allot two acres of land.
4.Several writ petitions were filed which by reason of the impugned judgment have been dismissed by a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court. Before embarking on the questions raised before us, we may place on record that except the present appeal, other appeals were heard and dismissed by a Division Bench of this Court (Coram Hon. B.P. Singh and P.K. Balasubramanyam, JJ). The said order, however, is not a reasoned one.
5.Mr. K.K. Rai, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of appellant, submitted that the factual scenario obtaining in the present appeal is different from the others, inasmuch as recommendations of allotment of four acres of land were made both in its favour as also in favour of one Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society; but whereas in the case of the latter society four acres of land was directed to be allotted; the appellant was denied of a similar grant.
The High Court, learned counsel argued, misdirected itself in passing the impugned judgment in so far as it failed to take into consideration that the said Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society was not a necessary party in the writ petition as no relief was claimed against it, inasmuch as if the writ petition were to be allowed, the said society would not have suffered any prejudice.
6.Mr. V.B. Saharya, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent, on the other hand, supported the impugned judgment.
7.The question which arose for consideration before the High Court was as to whether the Delhi Master Plan having provided for allotment of four acres of land for running of a secondary school, the Delhi Development Authority could take a policy decision of allotment only of two acres of land.
8.We have noticed hereinbefore that a large number of societies applied for allotment of land for setting up senior secondary schools. A recommendation had been made in favour of the apellant by the Institutional Allotment Committee on or about 23.10.1998. Indisputably, similar recommendations had been made in favour of other societies as well, including the said Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society. Recommendations of the Committee, however, do not appear to have been approved by the authority. It furthermore appears that the appellant was asked to send its latest bank balance certificate and/or financial status.
9.The Lt. Governor, who is Chairman of the Society, had also asked for certain clarifications pertaining to constructions of the school building. On or about 9.3.2000, a provisional allotment was made but, allegedly, the appellant society failed to furnish an undertaking within the period stipulated therefor.
10.Indisputably, the Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority made recommendations for allotment of only two acres of land in favour of the appellant. Shri Venkateshwara Educational Society, however, was allotted a land measuring four acres of land way back on 25.8.1999.
11.The policy decision of the Authority which was impugned in the writ petition was taken in October 1999. It has not been shown before us that any allotment has been made in favour of any society allotting land having an area of four acres, after October 1999.
12.We may furthermore notice that the plea of discrimination raised in the writ petition was absolutely vague as it was merely averred :
“The petitioner also wrote to Respondent No.1 on 24.03.2000 requesting for allotment of 1.6 hectares of land at the prevailing rate of Rs.30 lakhs per acre in 1996 when the application for land was made and other similarly situated institutions were allotted land...”
13.Grounds taken in the writ petition in this behalf also did not specify that the appellant had been discriminated against, vis-‘-vis the said Shri Venkateshwara Education Society or any other allottee. Details of the grant in favour of the said society was not furnished. In absence of any specific contention having been raised, it was not possible for the respondent to furnish any reply thereto.
14.No argument also appears to have been advanced in this behalf before the learned Single Judge. The memo of appeal of the appellant was not supported by any affidavit affirmed either by one of its authorized representatives who was present in court or by the advocate appearing on its behalf, stating that the contention in regard to the discriminatory treatment was raised before the learned Single Judge but was not dealt with.
15.A Judges record, as is well known, must be accepted as correct. Appellant, thus, could have filed an application for review before the learned Single Judge. The same was not done.
16.We are, therefore, of the opinion that the High Court cannot be said to have committed any error in passing the impugned judgment.
17.A feeble attempt was made by Mr. Rai to contend that the Central Government also was of the opinion that the area to be allotted for senior secondary school cannot be reduced. The High Court, in this regard held :
“Equally importantly, the learned Single Judge has noted that the official records of the Central Government dealing with the communications of DDA were produced before him. The nothings in the file, which were apparently perused by the learned Single Judge, show that the recommendations of DDA were considered by the Central Government and thereafter finally approved for implementation. In view of this factual position, we are quite satisfied that the land rates were determined by the Central Government and were not fixed by DDA. There was no excessive delegation of power or responsibility on the part of the Central Government and so this contention must be rejected.”
In view of the said findings of the High Court which, as noticed hereinbefore, have been accepted by this Court, we are not inclined to take a different view therefrom.
18.For the reasons aforementioned, there is no merit in this appeal. It is dismissed accordingly with costs. Counsels fee assessed at Rs.25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand only).
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