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Anant Raj Ltd. (Formerly Anant Raj Industries Ltd.) v. The State of Haryana & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 680Decided 27 Oct 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6471 of 2021
Justice Ajay Rastogi · Justice Abhay S. Oka

Background

The State of Haryana had granted licences for developing group housing colonies in the Gurgaon-Manesar area on a "First Come First Serve" basis. The High Court found this method unfair and non-transparent, holding it created an "unholy race" among applicants, and cancelled the licences already granted, directing the State to frame a fair and transparent policy. Both the licence-holders whose licences were cancelled and the original applicants who were denied licences appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's view that the "First Come First Serve" method, as applied by the State, was neither rational nor in the public interest and violated Article 14 of the Constitution. It rejected the licence-holders' argument that they were not independently targeted, noting they had been given a full opportunity to be heard before the High Court. The Court dismissed all the appeals, while clarifying that pending applications, including those of the appellants, could now be considered under the State's newer 2017 policy.

Lesson Learnt

Allocation of public resources like development licences must follow objective, transparent, and non-arbitrary criteria; a "first come first serve" process without proper safeguards can itself violate the constitutional guarantee of equal treatment.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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