NOIDA: The Allahabad high court earlier this month criticised YEIDA for an “inconceivable” order that cancelled allotment of a 100-acre plot to a developer for not paying dues even though the authority had not acquired the land and failed to meet its own “contractual obligations”.
The HC’s Lucknow bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia, in its ruling on Dec 18, quashed the cancellation order and told the authority to issue another allotment letter to the developer. It also overturned UP govt’s rejection of the revision appeal filed by the developer. The court noted that YEIDA was yet to acquire around 21% of the land allotted to the developer.
“It is strange that, on the one hand, the respondent no.2 (YEIDA) accepts that it did not have the actual physical possession of the property free from encumbrances at the time of issuance of allotment letter and it still does not have the actual possession of the entire land. On the other hand, respondent no.2 is insisting on fulfilment of reciprocal promise by the petitioners,” observed Justice Bhatia.
The allotment dates to 2010, when the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) awarded a 100-acre plot in Sector 22D to Adore Infrasmith, a consortium of firms.
In Dec that year, the authority issued a reservation letter that calculated the total premium for the plot to Rs 192 crore. Months after the developer paid 10% of the premium, YEIDA – in June 2011 – issued an allotment letter.
This letter also gave details of the additional 5,869sqm of land sought by the developer at a cost of Rs 2.8 crore. Adore Infrasmith was asked to pay this additional amount and 20% of the premium, Rs 38.4 crore, by Aug 18.
The developer paid Rs 2.8 crore for the extra patch of land, but it withheld 20% premium over concerns the authority had not acquired the entire 100 acres allotted to it.
On July 19 and Aug 4, the developer wrote to YEIDA, seeking clarifications about the land’s availability and possession while referring to the ongoing farmers’ protests in the area.
YEIDA did not respond to the developer’s queries.
Instead, on Sept 8, the authority extended the payment deadline but imposed interest on the outstanding amount. In Nov, YEIDA’s board decided to set the deadline of Jan 31, 2012, for all developers allotted land under the township scheme to clear their dues. In the meantime, Adore Infrasmith kept raising its concerns but did not get any clarity.
The deadline went by, and on Feb 1, 2012, YEIDA cancelled the allotment and said that the amount that was paid by the developer was forfeited.
Adore Infrasmith challenged the cancellation order and the Allahabad HC in March issued an interim stay, asking YEIDA not to allot the land to any other developer.
During legal proceedings, the developer argued that YEIDA’s cancellation order was unjustified as it had not acquired the entire 100-acre plot. The authority continued to acquire patches of this land between 2011 and 2017, it said.
Subsequently, the developer filed a revision petition with the state govt and withdrew the initial writ petition.
The process went on for years, and UP govt on June 20 this year dismissed Adore Infrasmith’s petition.
Adore Infrasmith again approached the HC’s Lucknow bench on Aug 9, 2024.
Hearing the case, the HC found that YEIDA had breached the terms of its contract by issuing an allotment letter without acquiring possession of the land.
“It is inconceivable as to how the respondent no.2 (YEIDA) was (not) in possession of the property prior to the issuance of the allotment letter. It is inconceivable that the possession is not transferred and the demand for the balance money is made…,” Justice Bhatia said.
Adore Infratech also informed the HC that it was willing to proceed with the allotment for the land already in YEIDA’s possession and pay the amount as per the reservation letter. For the land yet to be acquired, the developer requested that all steps be deferred till the authority secures possession.
The HC ruled in favour of the developer and directed YEIDA to issue a fresh allotment order within two weeks, indicating the payment terms for 20% of the premium. Adore Infrasmith was then granted 60 days to deposit the 20% premium amount, while the remaining premium and 12% simple interest on delayed payments since June 20, 2011, were to be paid in instalments.
The court also told YEIDA to execute a lease deed and hand over possession of the land within one month of receiving the 20% premium.
Source Homevior.in
