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Informist, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Monday rejected several government memorandums by the Andhra Pradesh government issued between 2005 and 2008 classifying Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly, state government officers, judges and journalists as a separate class for allotment of land at the basic rate within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits. The court held the memorandums as bad in law and violated Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

 

The lease deeds executed by the State of Telangana in favour of the societies or members will be treated as cancelled, said the court. The court said societies and their members are entitled to a refund of the amount deposited by them, including the stamp duty and the registration fee paid by them, along with the interest.

 

"Land is a finite and highly valuable resource, particularly in densely populated urban areas, where access to land for housing and economic activities is increasingly scarce," said the court. When the government allocates land at discounted rates to the privileged few, it engenders a system of inequality, conferring upon them a material advantage that remains inaccessible to the common citizen, the court said.

 

This preferential treatment conveys the message that certain individuals are entitled to more, not due to the necessities of their public office or the public good, but simply because of their status, it said. "Such practices foster resentment and disillusionment among ordinary citizens, who perceive these actions as corrupt or unjust, thereby eroding trust in democratic institutions. This policy undermines solidarity and fraternity, reinforcing societal hierarchies rather than actively working to dismantle them," the court said.

 

The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said the policy has wider economic ramifications as well. When land is offered at a discounted rate, it distorts the natural market forces that govern the value of land, it said. The true market price of land reflects its demand and utility, but when individuals receive land at a discount, it artificially devalues the property and consequently diminishes public revenue, the court said. This has severe financial ramifications for the public exchequer, it added.

 

"We are also of the opinion that accredited journalists cannot be treated as a separate class for such preferential treatment," the court said. The bench said that a careful study of the policy indicated that higher echelons of all the three wings of the government, legislators, bureaucrats, and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, have been afforded preferential treatment. Journalists, who are considered the fourth pillar of democracy, have also been included, the court said. These four pillars of democracy are expected to act as checks and balances on the arbitrary exercise of the state's power, said the court. However, the distribution of such extraordinary state benefits renders nugatory the very optics of healthy checks and balances within our democratic system, the court added.

 

Thus, the core framework of these policies suffers from the malaise of unreasonableness and arbitrariness, said the court. It reeks of a colourable exercise of power whereby the policymakers are bestowing valuable resources to their peers and ilk, triggering a cycle of illegal distribution of state resources, it added.

 

In 2005, the then-Andhra Pradesh government issued three memorandums – the first memorandum established a comprehensive policy for managing land resources and housing in urban and semi-urban areas, the second outlined categories of individuals eligible for land allotment and the third provided guidelines for this process.

 

The memorandum stated that the allotment for the cooperative societies comprising judges, MPs, MLAs, officers of Andhra Pradesh and journalists, would be in satellite towns of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. Various petitions were filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenging the government memorandums. The petitioner said that land worth INR 7 billion was allotted to the specified categories at a throw-away price compared to the market value. The majority of the beneficiaries were affluent persons with good social standing, the petitioners said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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