Facing cash crunch,civic body awaits decision on prime properties

The plan,however,got stuck in a legal battle when one Anil Sharma,who was granted leasehold of both properties by the MCD for commercial development,refused to vacate the premises even after his five-year lease expired on February 28,2007,as per the MCD records.

Sharma moved an application on March 16,2007 requesting that the lease of the properties be converted into a freehold agreement in his name,claiming the same was permissible as a result of a resolution passed by the Delhi government to the effect in 1978. The same would mean granting the ownership rights of both properties to M/s Ashima Securities Pvt Ltd,a private securities firm owned by Sharma.

According to the case details,the MCD contended that the Delhi government’s resolution did not apply to the properties in question and was meant “only for municipal markets and colonies” and did not cover “standalone properties or remunerative sites”.

To make things worse,Sharma’s application for freehold rights was entertained by then Additional Commissioner (Land and Estate) Sangeeta Bansal,who issued a no-objection certificate on the same. The MCD however,took corrective action,quashing the NOC,sealing the properties and issuing suspension orders against ADC Bansal and three other staff members involved in the matter. As per MCD’s bylaws,only the Municipal Commissioner has the authority to transfer immovable property,that too only after obtaining the agency’s approval.

On January 27 this year,the agency was accorded relief by the Delhi High Court when a Single Bench headed by Justice Reva Khetrapal refused to entertain Sharma’s plea. The HC quashed a previous stay on the sealing action and ruled that a “glaring fraud had been perpetrated upon the defendant (MCD) by the plaintiff apparently in connivance with some of its officials with the aim of grabbing one of the defendant’s prime properties”.

“There is no legal right to claim ownership on the basis of the resolutions passed by the Corporation,as the said resolutions are without any power or authority,” the High Court ruled.

Sharma then appealed to a Division Bench seeking relief against the order. The matter will now come up for hearing on Wednesday. It appears the MCD will have to brace for another long-drawn legal battle,as the case on the merit of the matter has not even begun yet.