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Delhi Administration Through Its Secretary v. Umrao Singh .
Factual and Procedural Background
The Government of India introduced a 1961 administrative scheme (“the 1961 Scheme”) to rehabilitate landowners whose properties were acquired for the planned development of Delhi by allotting alternative plots at predetermined rates. In 1986, the Delhi Administration issued an Office Order amending the Scheme, inter alia requiring that purchasers of acquired land must have owned at least one bigha for five years prior to the Section 4 notification to qualify for an alternative plot.
A Section 4 notification dated 27-1-1984 acquired land in Village Andheria, including the respondents’ plots. The respondents applied for alternative plots on 7-11-1986. Their applications were rejected on 30-9-1991 because they had purchased the land in 1982–1983—within five years of the acquisition notice—thereby failing the new eligibility condition.
The respondents filed writ petitions before the Delhi High Court, contending that the 1961 Scheme had been incorporated into the statutory Delhi Development Authority (Disposal of Developed Nazul Land) Rules, 1981 (“Nazul Land Rules”), and therefore could not be altered by an administrative order. The Division Bench accepted this argument, set aside the rejection letters, and remitted the matter for reconsideration in light of the Nazul Land Rules. The present Supreme Court appeals challenge that High Court ruling.
Legal Issues Presented
- Whether the 1961 administrative Scheme for allotment of alternative plots is incorporated into the statutory Nazul Land Rules, 1981, thereby requiring that any amendment to the Scheme be made only through statutory rule-making under the Delhi Development Act, 1957.
- If not incorporated, whether the Delhi Administration could validly amend the 1961 Scheme by the Office Order dated 3-4-1986 introducing the five-year ownership requirement.
Arguments of the Parties
Appellant’s Arguments
- The High Court erred in holding that the 1961 Scheme was part of the Nazul Land Rules; Rule 6 merely prescribes the rate at which land is to be allotted when the authority chooses to apply the Scheme, not the Scheme’s substantive eligibility conditions.
- Because the Scheme is purely administrative, the Delhi Administration was competent to amend it through the Office Order dated 3-4-1986 without resort to statutory rule-making.
Respondents’ Arguments
- The High Court correctly found that the 1961 Scheme had been absorbed into the Nazul Land Rules and could therefore be modified only by following the procedure in Sections 22 and 56 of the Delhi Development Act.
- Consequently, the 1986 administrative amendment—and the subsequent rejection of their applications—was invalid.
Table of Precedents Cited
| Precedent | Rule or Principle Cited For | Application by the Court |
|---|---|---|
| Ramanand v. Union of India, AIR 1994 Del 29 (Full Bench) | (1) Rule 4 of the Nazul Land Rules requires allotment to conform to master and zonal plans; (2) Rule 6 controls only the rate of premium when land is allotted under the Scheme; the discretion to allot remains with the Authority. | The Supreme Court relied on Ramanand to conclude that Rule 6 does not incorporate the 1961 Scheme’s eligibility conditions but only its pricing mechanism, supporting the view that the Scheme can be amended administratively. |
Court's Reasoning and Analysis
The Court examined Rules 4 and 6 of the Nazul Land Rules. It noted that:
- Rule 4 merely empowers the Authority to allot nazul land and does not itself embed the 1961 Scheme.
- Rule 6 mandates allotment at predetermined rates if the Authority decides to allot land to persons covered by the Scheme; it does not prescribe eligibility criteria.
Relying on the Full Bench decision in Ramanand, the Court reaffirmed that Rule 6 “controls the rates of premium chargeable only in those cases where land is allotted” and that other allotments may be by public auction. Therefore, the Scheme’s substantive conditions remain purely administrative. As an administrative scheme, it could be altered by an administrative directive. The High Court’s contrary view—that statutory amendment was required—was characterised as “erroneous.”
Holding and Implications
Appeals Allowed; High Court order set aside.
Direct Effect: The rejection letters dated 30-9-1991 stand reinstated, and the respondents are ineligible for alternative plots because they purchased land within five years of the Section 4 notification.
Broader Implications: The judgment clarifies that the 1961 alternative-plot Scheme is an administrative policy susceptible to modification by executive orders, limiting judicial interference unless statutory rules are explicitly engaged. No new statutory precedent is created, but administrative flexibility in land-allotment policies is reaffirmed.
A.K Patnaik, J.— Leave granted. These are appeals against the common judgment and order dated 15-12-2008 of the Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi in Umrao Singh v. Delhi Admn. (for short “the impugned order”).
2. The facts very briefly are that in the year 1959, the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, set up a committee to study the problems of introducing measures of control on land values and stabilising land prices in the urban areas of Delhi and this Committee submitted its report recommending some measures. The Government of India considered the recommendations and conveyed its decision to the Chief Commissioner, Delhi, by its Letter dated 2-5-1961 regarding acquisition, development and disposal of land (hereinafter called “the 1961 Scheme”). The 1961 Scheme inter alia contemplated that land may be allotted at predetermined rates, namely, at the cost of acquisition and development plus the additional charges mentioned in the Scheme, to individuals whose land has been acquired as a result of the Chief Commissioner's Notifications dated 17-7-1959, 3-9-1957, 13-11-1959 and 10-11-1960 or other such notifications with a view to rehabilitate such individuals.
3. Pursuant to the 1961 Scheme, the landowners, whose land was acquired, applied for allotment of alternative plots pursuant to advertisements inviting applications and after the necessary requirements as stipulated in the 1961 Scheme were complied with, plots were allotted to the persons who were the recorded owners prior to the issue of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
4. By an Office Order dated 3-4-1986 issued by the Land and Building Department, Delhi Administration, Delhi, the 1961 Scheme was amended. The Office Order dated 3-4-1986 is extracted hereinbelow:
“Delhi Administration, Delhi Land and Building Department,
Vikas Minar, New Delhi.
37(32)/1/12Dated: 3-4-1986
Office Order
In supersession of the previous order issued on the subject, the Administrator Delhi is pleased to order that the following norms should be followed in respect of allotment of alternative plots in lieu of the land acquired for planned development of Delhi under the scope of large-scale acquisition, development and disposal of land in Delhi of the Government of India contained in their Letter dated 2-5-1961.
1. In order to make the applicant eligible for allotment of alternative plot, the minimum land acquired for planned development of Delhi will be one bigha instead of 150 sq yd which was being followed earlier.
2. In case the applicant has purchased the requisite land of 1 bigha he should have purchased the same 5 years earlier than the date of notification under Section 4 of the Delhi (sic) Land Acquisition Act in order to make him eligible for allotment of alternative plot.
3. Condition No. 2 will, however, not be applicable in respect of ancestral cases.
4. Minimum size of the plot will be restricted to 250 sq yd where land acquired is more than 10 bighas. Cases where land acquired is more than 5 bighas but up to 10 bighas, plot size of 150 sq yd will be recommended and in respect of the cases where the land acquired ranges between 1 bigha to 5 bighas, the size of the plot will be restricted to 80 sq yd.
5. The plot will be allotted by DDA on predetermined rates fixed by the competent authority from time to time.
It is also clarified that these orders shall also apply to all pending applications.
sd/
(P.S Bhatnagar)
Secretary
(Land and Building Department)”
5. It was, thus, stipulated in the amended Scheme that in case the applicant has purchased the requisite land of one bigha, he should have purchased the same five years earlier than the date of notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act in order to make him eligible for allotment of alternative plot.
6. On 27-1-1984, a Notification was issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for acquisition of 3787 bighas and 12 biswas of land situated in Village Andheria for the public purpose of planned development of Delhi, which included the lands of the respondents, and the respondents were paid compensation in accordance with the awards. The Government thereafter invited applications for allotment of alternative plots under the 1961 Scheme and the respondents applied for allotment of alternative plots in their applications dated 7-11-1986.
7. As the applications submitted by the respondents lacked material particulars and were not accompanied with the relevant documents, the respondents were intimated to furnish material particulars and the relevant documents including the sale deeds by which they had purchased the land. The respondents furnished the particulars and documents and on scrutiny, it was found that the respondents had purchased the land in the years 1982 and 1983. The applications of the respondents were rejected by Communications dated 30-9-1991 as they had purchased the lands within five years of the date of the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act i.e 22-1-1984.
8. Aggrieved, the respondents filed Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 2147-48 of 1992 in the High Court and contended that the 1961 Scheme had been incorporated in the Delhi Development Authority (Disposal of Developed Nazul Land) Rules, 1981 (for short “the Nazul Land Rules”), which are statutory in character and these Rules could not be amended by an Administrative Order dated 3-4-1986.
9. The High Court accepted the contention of the petitioner and held in the impugned order that the Nazul Land Rules had been made by the Central Government under clause (j) of sub-section (2) of Section 56 read with sub-section (3) of Section 22 of the Delhi Development Act, 1957 (for short “the Act”) and could be amended only in the manner prescribed under Section 56 read with Section 22 of the Act and by an administrative order a further condition could not be stipulated under Rule 6 of the Nazul Land Rules.
10. The High Court accordingly set aside the Communications dated 30-9-1991 rejecting the applications of the respondents for alternative plots and remitted the matter to the appellants to consider the request of the respondents in the light of the provisions contained in the Nazul Land Rules and made it clear that the appellants would be permitted to take into consideration the nature of the policy as well as the condition stipulated in the 1961 Scheme as explained in the Full Bench judgment of the Delhi High Court in Ramanand v. Union of India AIR 1994 Del 29.
11. The only contention raised by the learned counsel for the appellant before us is that the view taken by the High Court that the 1961 Scheme could not have been amended by the Administrative Order dated 3-4-1986 was not correct. The learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, supported the impugned order of the High Court.
12. Rules 4 and 6 of the Nazul Land Rules, which are relevant for deciding the issue raised in this appeal, are extracted hereinbelow:
“4. Persons to whom nazul land may be allotted.—(1) The Authority may, in conformity with the plans, and subject to the other provisions of these Rules, allot nazul land to individuals, body of persons, firms, companies, public and private institutions, cooperative house building societies, other cooperative societies of individuals, cooperative societies of industrialists and to the departments of the Central Government, State Governments and the Union Territories.
(2) The Authority shall, in conformity with plans and subject to the provisions of these Rules, dispose the nazul land by auction to the following institutions:
(a) hospitals;
(b) dispensaries;
(c) nursing homes;
(d) higher or technical education institutions;
(e) community halls;
(f) clubs;
(g) schools:
Provided that nothing in this sub-rule shall affect the allotment of land to the Central Government, a State Government, a Union Territory, local body, autonomous bodies or organisations owned by the Central Government.”
6. Allotment of nazul land at predetermined rates.—Subject to the other provisions of these Rules, the Authority shall allot nazul land at the predetermined rates in the following cases, namely—
(i) to individuals whose land has been acquired for planned development of Delhi after the 1st day of January, 1961 and which forms part of nazul land:
Provided that if an individual is to be allotted a residential plot, the size of such plot may be determined by the Administrator after taking into consideration the area and the value of the land acquired from him and the location and the value of the plot to be allotted;
(ii) to individuals in the low income group or the middle income group, other than specified in clause (i)—
(a) who are tenants in a building in any area in respect of which a slum clearance order is made under the Slum Areas Act;
(b) who, in any slum area or the other congested area, own any plot of land measuring less than 67 sq m or own any building in any slum area or other congested area;
(iii) to individuals, other than those specified in clauses (i) and (ii), who are in the low income group or the middle income group, by draw of lots to be conducted under the supervision of the Land Allotment Advisory Committee;
(iv) to individuals belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes or who are widows of defence personnel killed in action, or ex-servicemen, physically handicapped individuals subject to the provisions of Rule 13;
(v) to industrialists or owners and occupiers of warehouses who are required to shift their industries and warehouses from non-conforming areas to conforming area under the Master Plan, or whose land is acquired or is proposed to be acquired under the Act:
Provided that the size of such industrial plot shall be determined with reference to the requirement of the industry or warehouses set up or to be set up in accordance with the plants and such industrialists and owners of warehouses have the capacity to establish and run such industries or warehouses and on the condition that the land allotted at predetermined rates shall not, in any case, exceed the size of the land which has been, if any, acquired from such industrialist or owners and occupiers of warehouses and which form part of nazul land:
Provided further that in making such allotment, the Authority shall be advised by the Land Allotment Advisory Committee;
(vi) to cooperative group housing societies, cooperative housing societies, consumer cooperative societies and cooperative societies of industrialists on ‘first-come-first-served basis’….”
13. It will be clear from sub-rule (1) of Rule 4 of the Nazul Land Rules that the Authority may, in conformity with the plans, and subject to the other provisions of these Rules, allot nazul land to individuals and other categories of persons. Sub-rule (2) of Rule 4 further provides that the Authority shall in conformity with the plans and subject to the Rules dispose the nazul land by auction to the categories of institutions named in clauses (a) to (g) in sub-rule (2) of Rule 4. The Full Bench of the Delhi High Court has held in Ramanand v. Union of India AIR 1994 Del 29 that Rule 4 requires that the allotment of land shall be made in conformity with the plans and “plans” means the master plan and the zonal development plan for a zone. Thus, there is nothing in Rule 4 which envisages allotment of nazul land to different category of persons to indicate that the 1961 Scheme has been incorporated in Rule 4. The Full Bench of the High Court has also held in the aforesaid decision that the word “may” in sub-rule (1) of Rule 4 cannot be construed as “shall” and discretion has been vested in the Authority to allot land to the categories of persons mentioned in the sub-rule.
14. Rule 6 is titled “Allotment of nazul land at predetermined rates” and it provides that subject to the other provisions of the Rules, the Authority shall allot nazul land at the predetermined rates in the cases enumerated in clauses (i) to (iv) and clause (i) of Rule 6 covers cases of individuals whose land has been acquired for planned development of Delhi after the 1st day of January, 1961 and which forms part of nazul land. Clause (i) of Rule 6 therefore, only provides that when the Authority decides to allot land to any individual under the 1961 Scheme, it shall allot at the predetermined rates. This is the view that the Full Bench of the Delhi High Court has taken in Ramanand v. Union of India AIR 1994 Del 29.
15. The relevant portion of the Full Bench judgment is quoted hereunder: (Ramanand case AIR 1994 Del 29, AIR p. 41, para 24)
“24. Rule 6, in reality, controls the rates of premium chargeable only in those cases where land is allotted to the persons mentioned therein. In other cases, the Rules provide for sale of land at the market price determined by the highest bid on public auction of land.”
Thus, according to the Full Bench of the Delhi High Court in Ramanand v. Union of India AIR 1994 Del 29 Rule 6 controls the rates of premium chargeable only in those cases where land is allotted to the persons mentioned therein and in other cases, the Rules provide for sale of land at the market price determined by the highest bid on public auction of land.
16. We are therefore of the considered opinion that Rule 6(i) of the Nazul Land Rules is not really a rule which incorporates the 1961 Scheme, but it only provides that if the Authority decides to allot nazul land to the individuals eligible under the 1961 Scheme, then nazul land shall be allotted at predetermined rates and not at the rates determined in a public auction. The High Court has taken an erroneous view in the impugned order that Rule 6 of the Nazul Land Rules, which was a statutory rule, laid down conditions for allotment of land under the 1961 Scheme and the conditions for allotment of land under the 1961 Scheme could therefore be amended by only statutory rules under Section 56 read with Section 22 of the Act. In our considered opinion, Rule 6 of the Nazul Land Rules did not stipulate the conditions for allotment under the 1961 Scheme and the 1961 Scheme being an administrative scheme could be amended without a statutory rule made under Section 56 read with Section 22 of the Act.
17. In the result, the appeals are allowed and the impugned order is set aside. There shall be no order as to costs.
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