Orissa High Court Restricts BDA To Allot Multiple Plots To Individuals In Bhubaneswar
Cuttack: In a major ruling, the Orissa High Court has restricted the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to allot multiple plots to individuals in the city under its schemes.
A single bench of Justice Biswanath Rath passed the order while pronouncing judgement in a case pertaining to allotment of multiple plots by the development authority under discretionary quota (DQ).
The court directed the development authorities to put a ‘cap’ or ‘restriction’ on the applicant by the party already in the receipt of land from the Development Authority under any of its Development Schemes operated in the city or under any other development scheme in the city and even in any other development scheme of any other district at least to make it available to all bonafide citizen instead of allotting multiple lands in favour of particular individuals, who are already in the entitlement of land by such agencies in any of the district.
“Before parting with the case, this Court likes to put an observation for future caring in the allotment of land by Development Authority involved herein to at least put a ‘cap’/ “restriction” on applicant by the party already in receipt of land from the Development Authority under any of its Development Schemes operated in city or under any other development scheme in the city and even in any other development scheme of any other district at least to make it available to all bonafide citizens instead of allotting multiple land in favour of particular individuals, who are already in entitlement of a land by such agencies may in any of the districts,” the court said.
It is worth noting that Sarojkanti Mallick, a Junior Assistant of the BDA, had availed a plot in Kalinga Nagar Plotted Development Scheme under discretionary quota. He later transferred the plot to one Farhat Nizami with the consent of the BDA. The petitioner was also in possession of a commercial plot at Chandrasekharpur allotted by the BDA from September 15, 2001, under the District Centre Commercial Plotted Development Scheme. Nevertheless, he moved the court after the third plot was not allotted to him even after he got it in quota.
“This Court finds considering the petitioner to be an entitlement in another plot will be jeopardizing the interest of persons, who are yet to get a single plot,” the court said.
The High Court rejected the petition in its order and issued this directive to the state government.
