Summary
A club sought consideration for industrial plots under a NOIDA scheme whose closure it had not challenged. The High Court revived its applications and later objected in contempt to their consideration under the prevailing scheme. The Court set aside those orders: registration did not confer a right to allotment under a closed scheme, and the club also failed to disclose a subsequent plot allotment during its writ proceedings.
Issues
- Whether an applicant could insist on consideration under the closed scheme.
- Whether consideration under the prevailing scheme breached the High Court’s direction.
- Whether nondisclosure of a subsequent allotment affected entitlement to writ relief.
Provisions considered
- Article 226, Constitution of IndiaApplied the equitable and discretionary character of writ relief to the failure to disclose a material subsequent allotment. (¶ 22)
Held
- The old scheme expressly reserved NOIDA’s right to close it. With closure unchallenged, the club had only a right to consideration while that scheme subsisted, not a vested right to allotment afterward. No discrimination from similarly situated unsuccessful registrants was established. The terms of the particular scheme govern the applicant’s entitlement. (¶ 16-19)
- The direction to consider applications in accordance with law permitted consideration under the prevailing scheme. Neither the closure announcement nor a later scheme preserved the old terms. The High Court’s contrary approach in contempt was erroneous; remaining land was not permanently attached to the closed scheme. (¶ 20-21)
- Although the subsequent 2014 allotment could not have been disclosed when the writ petition was filed in 2013, the club had a duty to disclose it during the proceedings. Its materiality to equitable and discretionary relief did not depend on a scheme rule requiring disclosure. Failure to disclose disentitled the club to relief. (¶¶ 6, 22)
Result
NOIDA’s appeals allowed; the impugned High Court judgment and orders, including those challenged in contempt proceedings, set aside. No order as to costs.