Allahabad HC stays Noida authority's construction ban on Satya Homes

The petitioners had purchased 9,571sqm in 2015 and sought permission from the Authority two years later to build a guesthouse and club house in Gulawali village.

The Authority rejected the application the very next day, saying the land they had bought was part of a notified area that would eventually be acquired for institutional development of Sector 161.Satya Homes challenged the Authority's decision at the high court, which asked the Authority to set aside the initial denial and initiate fresh proceedings. The Authority, however, rejected another application by Satya Homes a few months later, prompting the company to file a writ petition in April 2019.

The court combined this petition with another filed by Kiran Devi and others, who faced similar rejections.

Kiran Devi's case revolved around a piece of land that was earlier used for residential purposes and was declared non-agricultural under the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act. She purchased the land in March 2015 through registered sale deeds to build a house. There were 64 families who purchased land in the same area, but failed to secure permission from the Authority to initiate construction.

The petitioners argued that the Authority's stand that the land was notified for institutional development did not hold as it had taken no step to acquire the plots so far. They sought an order to the Authority to allow constructions as they had legally purchased the land.v The Authority's counsel submitted in court that the land was not part of abadi and that the petitioners had violated Building Regulations, 2010, by initiating constructions without taking permission. It also said that a proposal to acquire the land in the area was submitted to the additional district magistrate (land acquisition) way back in Oct 2012.

The counsel also informed the court that the Authority had already acquired a part of the land and was in the process of taking possession of the remaining part. The Authority also alleged that the petitioners were engaged in the fragmentation of the land, selling small plots that violated the planning objectives for institutional development.

On Oct 4 this year, the court observed that though the Authority had regulatory powers to oversee construction in its jurisdiction, it could not use them to impose blanket restrictions without a valid reason.

Setting aside the Authority's denial of permission, the bench of Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Vikas Budhwar asked it to reconsider the petitioners' application following proper procedure and legal guidelines. The court asked the Authority to conduct a fresh site inspection of the land in Nov and present a copy of the report to the petitioners by Nov 14. The petitioners and affected parties will have 10 days to submit their objections."The matter stands remitted back to the chief executive officer, Noida Authority, to pass a fresh order in accordance with law," the order read.

The next hearing is scheduled to take place in the second week of Dec.