Major Legal Setback For Indore Municipal Corporation! MP High Court Quashes 1919 MG Road Property Lease Cancellation, Bars IMC From Disturbing Possession

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed an Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) order cancelling the lease of a property on MG Road, holding that the civic body failed to establish its ownership or authority to terminate the century-old lease. The court also directed the corporation not to interfere with the petitioner's possession of the property.

Justice Sandeep N Bhatt, while allowing a writ petition filed by Sanjeev, set aside the IMC's Oct 13, 2022, order cancelling the lease and directing the petitioner to hand over possession within 15 days. The order was pronounced on Nov 6.

The dispute concerns Plot No. 11/7 (now numbered 17), MG Road, which forms part of a 30,084-square-foot parcel leased in perpetuity on Aug 15, 1919. The lease was executed by the then superintendent of Indore Municipality on behalf of Maharaja Holkar in favour of Dr Prabhakar Ramkrishna Bhandarkar.

The petitioner claimed that his father purchased the property through a registered sale deed in 1988 and that he subsequently inherited it. The corporation cancelled the lease in 2022, alleging violation of its conditions, particularly restrictions on construction and commercial use, as the property was being used to operate a caf .

The corporation argued that the land had vested in the erstwhile Indore Municipality under the 1909 municipal law and subsequently passed to the municipal corporation through successive legislative changes. It also maintained that the original lease restricted the land's use to gardening and similar purposes and prohibited construction.

However, Justice Bhatt observed that the corporation had failed to produce any title document or other convincing material establishing that the disputed property had vested in it. The court noted that no relevant property register was produced to demonstrate the corporation's ownership.

The court also took note of the 1919 lease deed, which recorded that the superintendent had executed it on the authority of Maharaja Holkar. It found substance in the petitioner's contention that the document was a 'Darbar Sanad' rather than an ordinary municipal lease, creating perpetual, heritable and transferable rights.

The court further observed that the corporation's reliance on a 1917 notification transferring certain lands to the municipality was not adequately supported by the original notification or relevant records. It also referred to revenue entries showing the state government's name against the larger survey number.

Importantly, the court held that the corporation's action was arbitrary, illegal and without jurisdiction, besides being contrary to the principles of natural justice. It noted that the matter concerning the property's status was also pending before the Supreme Court in an SLP filed by the corporation.

Allowing the petition, the High Court quashed the Oct 13, 2022, cancellation order and directed the corporation not to disturb or interfere with the petitioner's possession in any manner.