UNION TERRITORY, CHANDIGARH ADMN. AND ORS.versusMANAGING SOCIETY, GOSWAMI, GDSDC

 A           UNION TERRITORY, CHANDIGARH ADMN. AND ORS.
                                 v.
                  MANAGING SOCIETY, GOSWAMI, GDSDC

                                FEBRUARY 14, 1996
 B               . [KULDIP SINGH AND S. SAGHIR AHMAD, JJ.]

            Punjab (Development and R~gulation Act), 1952/Chandigarh Lease-
     hold of Sites and Building Rules, 1973 : Rule ]~Allotment of land to
     Society-Demand of difference in ground rent paid and payable under
 C   statutory Rules-High Court holding that the annual rent fIXed could not have
     been revised-On appeal held, a contract in violation of mandatory provisions
     of law can only be read and enforced in tenns of the law ·and in no other
     way-Equitable estoppel cannot be raised since there can be no estopple
     against statute.
ID
             CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 10419 of
     1995.

          From the Judgment and Order dated 22.10.91 of the Punjab &
     Haryana High Court in c:w.P. No. 6149 of 1991.
 E
             S. Ujagar, Devender Verma and Naresh Bakshi, for the Appellants.

             D.V. Seghal, AV. Palli and Ms. Rekha Palli for the Respondents.

             The following Order of the Court was delivered :
 F
         The Chandigarh Administration allotted 10.5 .acres of land to the
   managing Society, Goswami Ganesh Dutt Sanatan Dharam College, Chan-
   digarh {The Society), respondent in the appeal herein, by the letter dated
   June 21, 1975. The Estate officer, Chandigarh Administration, on March
   15, 1991, directed the Society to pay a sum of Rs. 1,74,690, the difference
 G between the ground rent already paid by the Society and the one which
   was payable under the statutory ~ules. The Society challenged the notice
   by way of a writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Writ
   petition was allowed by tlie High Court and· the demand notice was
   quashed.. This appeal by the Chandigarh Administration is against the
 H judgment of the High Court dated October 22, 1991.
                                        620
                UNION TERRITORY v. MANAGING SOCY. GOSWAMI                       621

              The land was allotted to the society for a period of 99 years at the     A
       rate of Rs. 10 per square yard with ground rent at the rate of Rs. 100 per
       acre per annum. The allotment to the Society was subject to the provisions
       of the capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 (the Act)
       and the rules framed thereunder. The Chandigarh Lease-hold of Sites and
       Buildings Rules, 1973 (the rules), framed under the Act were enforced with
                                                                                       B
       effect from August 20, 1973. Rule 13 of the rules is as under :

                "13. Rent and Consequences of non-payment. In addition to the
                premium, whether in respect of site or building, the lessee shall
                pay rent as under :
                                                                                       c
                (i) Annual rent shall be 2-1/2% of the premium for the first 33
                years which may be enhanced by the Chandigarh Administration
                to 3-3/4% of the premium for the next 33 years and to 5% of the
                premium for the remaining period of the lease.

               (ii) Rent shall be payable annually on the due date without any         D
               demand from the Estate Officer.

               Provided that the Estate Officer may for good and sufficient
               reasons extend the time for payment of rent upto six months on
               the whole on further payment of 6% per annum interest from the          E
               due date upto the date of actual payment.

               (iii) If rent is not paid by the due date, the lessee shall be liable
               to pay a penalty not exceeding 100% of the amount due which may
               be imposed and recovered in the manner laid down in section 8
               of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952,        F
               as amended by Act No. 17 of 1973".

              It is obvious from Rule 13 reproduced above that in addition to the
       premium the lessee under the Act and the rules has to pay annual rent at
....   the rate of 2-1/2% of the premium for the first 33 years. The fixation of
       the premium at the rate of Rs. 100 per acre, in the case of the society was     G
       in patent violation of the rules. There is no discretion under the rules with
       the Chandigarh Administration to fix annual rent at a rate lower than the
       one provided under the rules. It is stated by the Chandigarh administration
       that while preparing comments to the complaint filed by one Dr. M.L.
       Saini, Chall-man of the Chandigarh Recognised Schools Management As-            H
    622                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [1996] 2 S.C.R.

A   sociation before the Rajya Sabha Committ~e, it came to the notice of the
    administration that the fixation of annual rent, in respect of the land
    allotted to the Society and some other educational institution, was in
    violation of Rule 13 of the rules. It was under these circumstances that the
    mistake which was made in the year 1975 was sought to be corrected in
    the year 1991. The Society challenged the action before the High Court on
B   the ground that there was no power of review under the Act and the rules
    and as such the Chandigarh Administration could not review its order after
    a period of 16 years. It was also contended that the Chandigarh Ad-
    ministration was estopped from passing an order prejudicial to the Society
    specially when the Society has constructed buildings etc. on the allotted
C   land by incurring huge expenditure. The High Court did not go into the
    question of equitable estopple and allowed the writ petition on the short
    ground that in the absence of any power of review under the Act and the
    rules the Chandigarh Administration could not have revised the annual
    rent fixed in the allotment letter dated June 21, 1975.
D          We are of the view that the High Court fell into patent error in
    quashing the demand and the notice based on the mandatory provisions of
    the rules. There is no question of review in the facts and the circumstances
    of this case. The Chandigarh Administration did not cancel the allotment.
    It only corrected a patent mistake which could not be permitted to subsist.
E   There is nothing on the record to show that the Estate Officer or any other
    authority applied its mind and passed a conscious order fixing the annual
    rent at a rate lower than the one provided under Rule 13 of the rules. We
    have not been shown any power under the Act or the rules permitting
    relaxation of the mandatory provisions of the rules. A contract in violation
    of the mandatory provisions of law can only be read and enforced in terms
F   of the law and in no other way. The question of equitable estopple does
    not arise in this case because there can be no estopple statute.

          We, therefore, allow the appeal, set aside the impugned judgment of
  . the High Court. The writ petition filed by the society before the High Court
G shall stand dismissed. No costs.
    G.N.                                                       Appeal allowed.