Summary
NOIDA cancelled a residential allotment after discovering that the allottee and his wife had submitted false affidavits despite holding separate allotments contrary to the eligibility conditions. The Court reversed decrees protecting the allottee. Subsequent transfer of the wife’s plot and arguments about possession did not cure the false declarations. Fraud in obtaining the allotment justified cancellation, and any procedural irregularity concerning the Chief Executive Officer’s permission had in any event been cured.
Issues
- Whether false affidavits concealing a spouse’s allotment justified cancellation despite subsequent transfer of that plot.
- Whether the cancellation failed for want of prior permission of the Chief Executive Officer.
Held
- The eligibility conditions treated the family’s residential holdings as relevant and prohibited the second allotment. Both spouses’ declarations concealed existing allotments; absence of delivery of possession did not make the declarations true. Permission to transfer the wife’s plot had been given without knowledge of the husband’s separate allotment. (¶ 14-16)
- An affidavit is a solemn sworn declaration. The express cancellation condition covered allotments procured by misrepresentation, misstatement or fraud, and the plaintiff could not obtain equitable protection for an allotment obtained on false declarations. (¶¶ 17-19, 23)
- The Court distinguished fraud affecting the foundational eligibility for the lease from later breach of lease conditions. It rejected the objection based on absence of prior Chief Executive Officer permission and held alternatively that the later permission cured any irregularity in this case. Decisions concerning breach and proportionality did not govern these facts. (¶ 20-22)
- The appeal was allowed, the judgments and decrees of all three courts below were set aside, and the allottee’s suit was dismissed. (¶ 24)
Result
Appeal allowed. Judgments and decrees below set aside and the allottee’s suit dismissed, sustaining cancellation of the fraudulently obtained allotment.