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Supreme Court of India

KM. PREETA SINGH ETCversusHARYANA URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND ORS.

Citation
1996 INSC 563
Decided
22 April 1996
Disposal
Dismissed

Holding

Allottees are liable to pay the sale price including the additional price and development costs as prescribed by the Punjab Urban Estates (Sale of Sites) Rules, 1965, and HUDA acted within its statutory authority.

Summary

The appellants, allotted a site by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) under a housing scheme, paid the original sale price but were later directed to pay an additional amount of about Rs. 1 lakh as per a calculation memo dated 9 August 1990. They contended that HUDA lacked authority to demand this extra sum because the original price had already been paid. The Court examined Rule 2(aa) and Rule 4(1) of the Punjab Urban Estates (Sale of Sites) Rules, 1965, which define "additional price" as a sum determined by the State Government, taking into account compensation awarded under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and related costs. A conjoint reading of the rules indicated that the allottee is liable to pay the sale price inclusive of the additional price and all development costs. The Court found no illegality in HUDA's action, noting that the detailed notice left no ambiguity and the appellants could have sought clarification but did not. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed and the High Court's order upheld.

Issues considered

  • Whether HUDA has the statutory power to demand payment of an additional price from the allottee under the Punjab Urban Estates (Sale of Sites) Rules, 1965.
  • Whether the appellants are liable to pay the additional amount calculated by HUDA despite having paid the original sale price.

Legislation cited

Subjects

additional pricesale of sitestatutory authorityHUDAPunjab Urban Estates Rulesland acquisitiondevelopment chargesappellate jurisdiction

Judgment

                  KM. PREETA SINGH ETC.                                              A
                           v.
      HARYANA URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND ORS.

                                   APRIL 22, 1996

                  [K. RAMASWAMY AND G.B. PATTANAIK, .TJ.]                            B

             Punjab Urban Estates (Sale of Sites) Rules, 1965:

          Rules 2(aa), 4( 1}-Allotment of Site-Demand of additional
    price-Power of Development authority-Held, Allottee liable to pay sale price     C
    including additional price, and cost of improvement-E11tire e:i.penditure i11-
    cu1Ted to be bome by allottees--Development authoiiry-Harya11a Urba11
    Housing Scheme.

         CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 7759 of
    1996 Etc.                                                   D
         From the Judgment and Order dated 28.5.91 of the Punjab &
    Haryana High Court in C.W.P. No. 16511 of 1990.
•            Subodh Markandaya and Mrs. Chitra Markandeya for the Appel-
    Janis.                                                                           E

             Ms. Indu Malhotra (D.B. Vohra) (NP) for the Respondents.

             The following Order of the Court was delivered :

             Delay condoned.                                                         F
             Leave granted in the Special Leave Petition.

          The question that arises for consideration is : whether the respon-
    dents have committed any illegality in directing the appellants to pay a sum
    of Rs. l lakh and odd as additional amount as intimated in their calculation G
    memo dated August 9, 1990? The claim of the appellants is that the
    respondents have no power to direct payment of the additional amount
    when the appellants have already paid as per the original demand. It is true
    that initially, the provisional amount was calculated at the rate of cost
    incurred in the scheme known as the Haryana Urban Development Hous- H
                                          621
    622                    SUPREME COl:RT REPORTS 11996] SUPP. l S.C.R.

A   ing Scheme in Sector 21, Gurgaon. Thereafter, the appeJlants were called
    upon to pay the additional amount. The contention is that the respondents
    have got no power to call upon the appellants to pay the additional amount.

          Section 2(aa) of the Punjab Urban Estates (Sale of Siles) Rules, 1965
    defines "additional price" to mean such sum of money as may be deter-
B
    mined by the State Government, in respect of the sale of a site by allotment,
    having regard to the amount of compensation by which the compensation
    awarded by the Collector for the land acquired by the State Government
    of which the site sold forms a part, is enhanced by the court on a reference
    made under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the amount
c   of cost incurred by the State Government in respect of such reference.

          Explanation cm;sagcs that "for the purposes of this clause and
    sub-rule (l) of Rule 4, the expression "the court" means the court as
    defined in Clames (d) of Section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and
D   where an appeal is filed, the appellate court."

          'Sale price' has been absorbed in Rule 4.

           A conjoint reading of the above rules would clearly indicate that the
E   allottee is liable to pay a sale price including the additional price and the
    cost incurred and also the cost of improvement of the sites. It is to be
    remembered Lhat the respondent-HUDA is only a statutory body for
    catering to the housing requirement of the persons eligible to claim for
    allotment. They dCquire the land, develop it and construct buildings and
    allot the buildings or the sites, as the case may be. Under these circumstan-
F   ces, the entire expenditure incurred in connection with the acquisition of
    the land and develupment thereon is required to be borne by the allottees
     \vhcn th~ sites or the buildings sold after the development are offered on
     the date of the sale in a<.:cunJance \Vith thr; regulation~ and abo condition~
     of ~ale-". It is s1;en that in the notice dated r'\ugust 9, 1990 1 the total area,
G   .net .irca, the payable amount for the gross acreage, the acreage left for the
    devdupmental purpose, balance recoverable from the plot holders, plot-
    table area have been given for each of the area and recovery rate also has
    been mentioned under the said notice. Under these c1rcumstances, there
    is no ambiguity left in the calculations. If, at all, the appellants had got any
H   doubt, they would have approached the authority and sought for further
                       PREETASINGHv. H.U.DA                             623

information. It is not the case that they had sought the information um! the   A
same was withheld. Under these circumstances, we do not find any illegality
in the action taken by the respondents. The High Court, therefore, was
right in refusing to interfere with the order.

       The appeals are dismissed. No costs.
                                                                               B
G.N.                                                    Appeals dismissed.


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