HC dismisses plea against AAP govt notification on circle rate

NEW DELHI: A PIL against an AAP government notification enhancing circle rates of agricultural land in the national capital by three times, was dismissed by the Delhi High Court today.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath said "no case is made out" as the notification was issued in the name of the Lieutenant Governor (LG).

"As the notification in question was issued in the name of LG, no case is made out. The writ petition is dismissed," the court said.

The court passed the order after the petitioner, who had sought quashing of the August 4 notification, failed to reply to the bench's query as to who has the authority to approve the same.

However, the bench was told by Delhi government that as per the Transaction of Business Rules, the notification had to be issued in the name of LG and the same has been complied with.

Later, the court also perused the notification issued in the name of LG, with the bench dismissed the PIL saying it has no merit.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has fixed the new rates in the range of Rs 1 crore to Rs 3.5 crore per acre from the earlier Rs 53 lakh per acre.

Alleging that the decision was taken without the LG's approval, the PIL had sought quashing of the August 4 notification which has already run into trouble after LG Najeeb Jung directed the Arvind Kejriwal government on August 10 to maintain status quo till the issue was examined legally.

The petition filed by one Gopal Gupta, a property dealer, had claimed that the notification issued by Delhi government was null and void as it has been issued without any authority.

The petition said that the LG is the competent authority to take the final decision in this behalf and execution of the notification will put burden on residents of Delhi.