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TMI Blog2024 (2) TMI 1297X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -Petitioner No.5 in Writ-C No.642 of 2024 and Abdulla-Petitioner No.6 in Writ-C No.527 of 2024 are involved in present bunch of writ petitions. These 25 petitioners relate to large bunch of writ petitions regarding slum known as Akbar Nagar (I) and (II), Lucknow. The said slum situates along the sides of Kukrail river/nala and falls much inside the city. Petitioners, persons of resources, claiming themselves as slum dwellers, obtained stay orders from the High Court and also attempted to be heard along with actual poor slum dwellers. It was only during course of the argument, that this Court came to know that they actually have illegally occupied large pieces of land of State Government and raised multi-story furniture showrooms/workshops on the main Lucknow-Faizabad Road, or immediately at the back of first row of showrooms, are filing their GST and income tax returns and mostly are living in their own houses in posh or well developed, old settled residential areas/colonies of Lucknow and in most of the cases also owning other properties. 2. Looking into their GST and income tax returns, location and size of the land occupied and constructions raised by them and also other proper ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sq. ft.= 8,400 sq. ft. under construction on plot of land at Hasemau, Malhour admeasuring 1250 sq. ft. Share in ancestral house admeasuring 1800 sq. ft. and agricultural land admeasuring 7 Bigha in District Kasganj. 6. 11360/ 2023 Mohd Naushad brother of petitioner in writ petition at sl. 7 Commercial Rs. 72,15,503/approx (2022-23) Rs 55,68,437.1 2 approx (2023-24) 4,94,890/- (2022-23) 4,97,570/- (2023-24) 2,000 sq. ft. (400 sq.ft. Of Mohd Abrar + 1600 sq. ft. of himself holding together) (Basement + Ground Floor) 2x2000=4000 sq. ft. LIG House in the name of her wife at L-2/644, Vineet Khand Gomti Nagar, Admeasuring 546 sq.ft. 7. 11362/ 2023 Mohd Abrar brother of petitioner in writ petition at. sl. 6 Commercial (Shop Merged with brother, no longer in Akbar Nagar) Rs. 68,61,384/approx (2022-23) Rs. 41,25,584/approx (2023-24) 4,80,470/- (2022-23) 4,81,000/- (2023-24) 400 sq. ft A. A shop in Nishatganj locatedon 980 sq. ft. ; A small flat in IMT Building, New Hyderabad, Lucknow located on 950 Sq. ft., by way of a housing loan for 15 years. 8. 642/20 24 Mohd. Shafeek Khan Petitioner No. 1 Husband of Petitioner No.5 Shahana Commercial cum Residential M/s M.R. Unifo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 86,412/approx (2022-23) Rs. 88,602/approx (2023-24) Rs. 4,96,500/(2022-23) Rs. 4,90,190/- (2023-24) 1200 sq. ft. Ground Floor+First Floor 2x1200 sq. ft.=2400 sq. ft. Residing in parental house in Ghasiyari mandi, Kaisrbagh 17. 11482/ 2023 Adil Ishtiaq Commercial Rs. 8,39,807/approx (2022-23) Rs. 2,92,576/approx (2023-24) Rs. 4,92,010/(2022-23) Rs. 4,23,930/- (2023-24) 1100sq. ft. Basement+Ground Floor 2x1100 sq. ft.=2200 sq. ft. Residing in parental house in Ghasiyari mandi, Kaisrbagh 18. 11481/ 2023 Mohd. Abubakar Commercial cum residential Rs. 1,65,669/approx (2022-23) Rs. 2,20627/approx (2023-24) Rs. 4,77,980/- 600 sq. ft. Basement+Ground Floor+First Floor 3x600 sq. ft. =1800 sq. ft. Share in ancestral agricultural land along with his brother admeasuring around 1 Bigha at village- Umrah, Kursi, DistrictBarabanki 19 11492/ 2023 Mohd. Adil Commercial M/s Bombay Furniture and Interior Decorator Rs. 55,04,000/- approx (2022-23) Rs. 29,71,460/Approx (2023-24) Rs. 3,46,390/(2022-23) Rs. 4,59,030/- (2023-24) 1800 sq. ft. Basement+Ground Floor+First Floor 3x1800 sq. ft.=5400 sq. ft Parental House R/O Old Haiderganj, Chowk, Lucknow 20. 729/20 24 Rehan Ali C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f 2023 and Writ-C No.514 of 2024 (at Sl. 1 & 2 in the chart). Similarly, Shafeeq and Shahana, petitioner no.1 and 5 of Writ-C No.642 of 2024 (Sl. No.8 in chart) are husband and wife and have made their two separate claims. However they have not provided details of separate properties occupied by them. Similarly, Naushad and Abrar (Sl No.6 and 7 in the chart) are two real brothers, have occupied two separate properties and have filed two separate petitions being Writ-C No.11360 of 2023 and Writ-C No.11362 of 2023 who now claim that they have merged their shops and entire property is owned by one of the brothers. Nameera Khan, petitioner in Writ-C No.11372 of 2023 (Sl. no.13 in chart) has rented out her illegally constructed showroom while herself lives in posh Indira Nagar, Colony, Lucknow. 5. In support of their case respondents have placed reliance upon the judgment in the case of S. Sivaprakasa Mudaliar Vs. The State of Madras; AIR 1964 Madras 115. Relevant portion of the same reads :- "11........The expression "slum dwellers though in popular parlance has acquired some special meaning, namely, those who are economically and socially backward and who huddle themselves together ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t was not definition of the slum dwellers and, hence, judgment of the said case is of no assistance. He further submits that the court cannot take GST or income tax returns of the petitioners, or the location or size of area occupied and nature of constructions raised or other properties owned by them, into consideration for not treating them as slum dwellers or their area as slum. 8. Counsel for petitioners fairly accepted before this court that the land occupied by all the petitioners belongs to State Government and furniture or related products showrooms/workshops constructed by the petitioners upon the same are without any authorisation and, thus, are illegal. It is also accepted that they exist on the main Lucknow-Faizabad road or immediately at the back of first row of showrooms. Also admitted are tax returns and other property details as detailed in the chart above. Thus, we proceed to consider rival submissions on aforesaid admitted facts. 9. The term 'slum' and 'slum dweller' is defined in number of dictionaries, some of which read:- Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary New Edition Slum / slum (slums) A slum is an area of a city where ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e called as existing in a slum area. At best they exist at the edge of Akbar Nagar slum area and not in the said slum area. Similarly, the facts that they have had enough money to spend on illegal construction of huge showrooms/workshops, are paying their GST and filing income tax returns and/or most of them are having their own residences in good and posh localities of city and/or other properties, we are unable to hold them as slum dwellers. We are here also reminded the words of Supreme Court:- "Common sense, which is a cluster of life's experiences, is often more dependable than the rival facts presented by warring litigants." stated in paragraph 35 of (1985) 3 SCC 545; 'Olga Tellis and Others Vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation'; "It must be understood that an interpretation which upon application of the provisions at the ground reality, would frustrate the very law should not be accepted against the common sense view which will further such application." in Paragraph 48 of (2012) 2 SCC 108; 'Executive Engineer, Southern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Limited (Southco) and Another Vs. Sri Seetaram Rice Mill and, "We are constrained to observe that the ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t petitioners and the appeal decided under Section 27 of the U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 (hereinafter Act of 1973), both are in violation of principles of natural justice. He states that the large number of documents were accepted by the prescribed authority as well as by the appellate authority at the time of hearing of the matter, copies of which were not provided to the petitioners. Further, the appeals were placed for hearing of stay applications, but were heard on merits. Thus matters should be remanded. 14. We have perused both the proceedings at length with the assistance of counsel for parties. A perusal of the same shows that the documents were called for and considered to ascertain the status of Kukrail river/water channel next to the slum area and impact of slum on the said water channel. Once we have held that neither the petitioners are slum dwellers nor their establishments fall within the slum area, the said documents do not in any manner have any impact on the rights of the petitioners. Both before the prescribed authority as well as appellate authority petitioners represented themselves to be slum dwellers and did not place correct facts. Both th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gs. Thus, we do not find any reason to remand the matter. 17. Before closing, we also would like to place on record the words of caution of the Supreme Court in case of 'Almitra H. Patel v. Union of India, (2000) 2 SCC 679 in paragraph 14:- "14. Establishment or creating of slums, it seems, appears to be good business and is well organised. The number of slums has multiplied in the last few years by geometrical proportion. Large areas of public land, in this way, are usurped for private use free of cost. It is difficult to believe that this can happen in the capital of the country without passive or active connivance of the land-owning agencies and/or the municipal authorities. The promise of free land, at the taxpayers' cost, in place of a jhuggi, is a proposal which attracts more landgrabbers. Rewarding an encroacher on public land with a free alternative site is like giving a reward to a pickpocket. The Department of Slum Clearance does not seem to have cleared any slum despite its being in existence for decades. In fact more and more slums are coming into existence. Instead of "slum clearance" there is "slum creation" in Delhi. This in turn gives rise to domestic was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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