“Thank God! The Gujarat High Court intervened. It is a scam,” the CJI led bench observed Yesterday (April 19th) while dismissing an appeal of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) of Surat against a high court order for auctioning a five star hotel constructed on the land meant for a market yard.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court weighed in Yesterday, dismissing an appeal filed by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) of Surat against a Gujarat High Court ruling. The High Court had ordered the auctioning of a five-star hotel constructed on land designated for a market yard. The apex court, echoing the sentiment of the High Court, observed,
“Thank God! The Gujarat High Court intervened. It is a scam.”
Refusing to intervene with the High Court’s March 27 order, the Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala, upheld the directive for the state government to take possession of the five-star hotel. The bench expressed incredulity at the APMC’s actions, questioning,
“How can the Agriculture Produce Market Committee construct a five-star hotel on the land meant for constructing market yards for agricultural products?”
Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, representing the APMC, alleged that the High Court’s decision deprived the APMC of its land and properties. However, the bench countered,
“Tell us from the Act (on APMC) that you have got the right to build a shopping mall and the five-star hotel on the land… you should have returned the land back to the state.”
In addition to ordering the public auction of the property, the High Court directed authorities to deposit the proceeds into the state’s APMC fund. Reflecting on the situation, the CJI remarked,
“Thank God! The High Court intervened! This is a scam… The government (officials) may be a willing accomplice.”
Despite dismissing the APMC’s appeal, the bench allowed Hotel Shilpis India Private Ltd to petition the High Court for a refund of the investment made in the hotel project.
The High Court’s ruling highlighted the discrepancy between the APMC’s actions and the intended purpose of the land, stating,
“The construction of a Five Star Hotel at a cost of Rs 98 crores utilized from the ‘Market Committee Fund’ that too then leasing it out to a private person cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be said to be related to or ancillary to or connected to the main object and purpose of establishment of the Market Committee under Section 11 of the Market Act’ 1963.”
Moreover, the High Court criticized the state’s stance on the lease rent proceeds, branding it as an attempt to disguise an illegal act. The court ordered the closure of all activities in the mall that did not serve the welfare of farmers.
The case, initiated in 2014 through a PIL, revolved around allegations of the Surat APMC constructing a mall and a five-star hotel on 20,000 sq mt land while relocating the market yard to another location.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on CJI
Click Here to Read Previous Reports of Gujarat High Court
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
