Mohandas and Others v. The State of Maharashtra and Ors.
Background
Landowners in Gondia, Maharashtra, had their property reserved for a shopping complex (later also a vegetable market) under a Development Plan that came into force in 1984, but the land was never acquired by the municipal authorities. Relying on a statutory provision under which such a reservation lapses if the land is not acquired within set timeframes after the owner serves notice, the landowners sought a declaration that the reservation had lapsed and that they were free to use the land; the Bombay High Court dismissed their petition.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that although the landowners' predecessors had served the required notice after ten years, the government had already issued the necessary acquisition declaration within that ten-year window (in 1992), which meant the lapsing provision was never triggered. That same reservation was then carried forward, essentially unchanged, into a revised Development Plan finalised in 2012, so there was no reservation left to lapse under the original plan. The Court declined to use its special equitable powers under Article 142 to override this outcome, noting the current owners had purchased the land in 2006 already knowing it was reserved, and dismissed the appeal, while leaving the landowners free to invoke the lapsing provision afresh after ten years from the 2012 revised plan if the authorities still failed to acquire the land by then.
Lesson Learnt
A landowner's right to have a town-planning reservation declared lapsed due to government inaction depends on strictly following the statutory timeline and notice procedure; if the authority takes the legally required acquisition step within the time limit, the reservation survives even though actual acquisition and compensation may be delayed for years.