NEW DELHI, OCT 18: The Supreme Court has held that land falling in green-belts cannot and should not be put to auction by development authorities as serious public interests were involved in it. Nullifying an auction made by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) of a land falling in the green-belt in Kalkaji area in South Delhi, a division bench said "on the date of the auction the plot being in the green-belt, could not and should not have been put to auction." Writing the judgement for the bench, Justice R C Lahoti directed DDA to return the money deposited by one Ravindra Mohan Aggarwal who had bid for the land with nine per cent interest since 1985 when the auction took place. Aggarwal had participated in the auction and made a bid of Rs 3,25,000 for the plot which was the highest. He then deposited 25 per cent of the bid amount, Rs 81,250 with DDA and the bid was placed before DDA vice-chairman who was the competent authority to accept or rescind the bid. Meanwhile, a public interest litigation wasfiled in the High Court challenging the auction complaining that the plot was situated in green-belt and therefore could neither have been treated as a developed plot nor put to auction for any purpose other than its use as a green-belt. The High Court had stayed the auction but the DDA vice-chairman, without the knowledge of the stay order, approved the auction. The High Court in its August 1991 order refused to grant any relief to Aggarwal as far as the green-belt plot was concerned but held that he was not to be faulted for making a bid at the auction. It directed the DDA to give a plot to the bidder of the controversial plot an alternative site of equivalent measurement at the same price in Kalkaji outside the green-belt within two months. The DDA appealed against this order in the Supreme Court.
