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Sahoo Baba (D) Th. LRs. & Anr. v. Haryana Urban Development Authority & Anr.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 1733 of 2015)Decided 2 Feb 2015
Civil Appeal No. 1733 of 2015
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Shiva Kirti Singh

Background

A shop had originally been allotted by the Haryana Urban Development Authority to a person who later died; his legal heirs continued to occupy the shop but had not paid the full allotment price, including interest that had been raised first to 15% and then to 18% on the unpaid balance. The Authority had passed an order resuming (taking back) the shop for non-payment, but the heirs remained in possession and appealed to the Supreme Court seeking to retain it.

Decision Breakdown

The Court framed the issue narrowly, whether the heirs could keep the shop if they were willing to pay what was owed, and, based on the Authority's own calculation of the outstanding dues (agreed to by both sides' counsel), ordered that the heirs could retain the shop only if they paid Rs. 3,90,000 (the balance plus miscellaneous charges) by 30 April 2015; if they failed to pay by that date, they would lose any right to retain possession and the shop would be handed back to the Authority, with whatever they had already paid treated merely as occupation charges. The Court expressly noted this was a one-off arrangement based on the peculiar facts of this case and was not to be treated as a precedent.

Lesson Learnt

Continued physical possession of an allotted property does not protect an allottee's rights if the agreed price (with interest) is not paid in full by the deadline fixed by the authority or the court: timely payment, not possession, is what secures the right to the property.

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

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