Summary
The Court restored eviction of occupants claiming regularisation of stalls in a market transferred to NDMC for administration. The Union transferred its management functions, not ownership of the land or buildings; NDMC acted as delegate and its policies for its own markets did not govern these properties. The occupants’ partnership and transfer arrangements breached the licences, and the cited Union ownership schemes did not cover their claims. The High Court orders directing transfer were set aside, with time to vacate until 30 November 2021.
Issues
- Whether transfer of market administration to NDMC brought the stalls within its own regularisation policies.
- Whether the licence terms and cited Union schemes supported the occupants’ claimed entitlement.
Provisions considered
- Paragraphs 2, 3 and 5, Government of India notification S.O.404(E), dated 24 March 2006The notification transferred administration on an as-is-where-is basis, with the Council exercising the Union’s lessor/licensor functions. Segregated development receipts supported the conclusion that ownership did not pass and that applicable Union policies governed. (¶¶ 6, 14, 15, 16)
Held
- The licences prohibited introducing partners and transferring possession without the required consent. The partnership followed by its rapid dissolution and claimed transfer contravened those terms. The occupant had not been in possession by the earlier scheme’s cut-off and the later ownership notice did not include this market. (¶¶ 4, 5, 7, 11, 12)
- The 2006 notification transferred management functions, not title to the land or buildings. NDMC administered these markets as the Union’s delegate, separately from its own properties, and could follow the applicable Union regularisation policy rather than substitute its own policy for owned markets. (¶¶ 6, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- The cited interdepartmental letters seeking and providing administrative guidance were not public policy decisions or enforceable regularisation orders. Failure to produce an NDMC policy did not establish the asserted entitlement in this setting. (¶¶ 9, 15)
- The High Court orders were set aside and the eviction order affirmed by the appellate court restored. Occupants were allowed until 30 November 2021 to deliver vacant possession. (¶ 17)
Result
Appeals allowed. Eviction restored; occupants granted time to hand over vacant possession on or before 30 November 2021.