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No land allotment on sympathetic grounds: SC

Last Updated 23 August 2010, 19:22 IST

In a judgment, a Bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan observed that “sympathy or sentiment by itself cannot be a ground for passing an order in favour of the allottee by the courts nor can an order be passed in contravention of the statutory provisions.”
The Bench passed the judgment while quashing a Punjab and Haryana High Court direction to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority which allotted an MIG flat to one Manju Jain who failed to deposit an initial amount within the stipulated 60 days after ignoring the application for over four years.

In its judgment, the Bench said: “Cancellation of an allotment should be a last resort. The allotment should not be cancelled unless the intention or motive on the part of the allottee in not making due payment is evident. The drastic power of resumption and forfeiture should be exercised in exceptional cases but that does not mean that the statutory rights conferring the right on the authority should never be resorted to.”

But the judges pointed out that “in exceptional circumstances where the allottee does not make any payment in terms of allotment, the order of cancellation should be passed.”
Jain had applied for a flat under the hire-purchase scheme on January 27, 1997. After the draw of lots, she was allotted an MIG flat ten months later. Subsequently, the Mohali authority issued a letter of allotment on March 9, 1999, which made it clear that the price of the house was Rs 555,200 and that she was required to send her acceptance and deposit 25 per cent of the amount within 60 days of the receipt of the allotment letter.
Following a query by Jain, the authority informed her that the allotment made to her stood cancelled as she did not deposit any amount.

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(Published 23 August 2010, 19:19 IST)

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