Delhi High Court
Ms. Kajal & Ors. vs Government Of Nct Of Delhi & Anr. on 24 August, 2020
SINDHU KRISHNAKUMAR
24.08.2020 23:27
$~16
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 24th August, 2020
+ W.P.(C) 3643/2020 & CM APPLs. 12987/2020, 12988/2020,
12989/2020, 15655/2020, 15656/2020
MS. KAJAL & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Himanshu Pathak, Advocate
(M-9643121390)
versus
GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Gautam Narayan, Standing
Counsel GNCTD.
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
1. This hearing has been held through video conferencing.
2. The present petition has been filed by six Petitioners, who are
allottees of shop/commercial spaces at Maharana Pratap Inter-State Bus
Terminal, Kashmere Gate, Delhi (hereinafter 'ISBT'). The Petitioners were
the successful bidders in a tender which was floated by the Delhi Transport
Infrastructure Development Corporation (hereinafter 'DTIDC'). The bids
were accepted in March, 2020. However, before the possession letters etc.
could be issued, the lockdown due the outbreak of COVID-19 had been
announced by the Government. Accordingly, the possession of shops was
never taken by the Petitioners.
3. Thereafter, the Petitioners have been issued letters of possession on
20th May, 2020, 22nd May, 2020, 30th May, 2020 and 1st June, 2020. Since, the
Inter-State bus operations at the ISBT are currently suspended, Petitioners
filed the present petition seeking the following prayers:
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
Signing Date:24.08.2020 22:31
"a. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate
writ, order or direction thereby directing respondents to
withdraw the possession letters dated 20.05.2020 &
22.05.2020 issued to respective petitioners.
b. issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate
writ, order or directions directing respondents not to
issue possession letters without completely resuming the
operation of inter-state bus terminal and free-movement
of inter-state buses and till then no license fee would be
charge.
c. issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate
writ, order or directions directing respondents to
explore measures and to frame comprehensive policy to
mitigate the suffering of petitioners by relaxing the
license fee on opening of the respective shops."
4. After notice was issued in the present petition, an affidavit was filed by
the GNCTD on the merits of the matter. However, an additional affidavit was
also filed on 7th August, 2020 placing on record the minutes of the 37th Board
Meeting of the DTIDC. In the said meeting, a decision was taken by the Board
that insofar as those allottees, who have not been given possession of the
shops, the date of the license would only be deemed from the date of
resumption of operation of the Inter-State bus services at the ISBT. The
relevant portion of the minutes is extracted herein below:
"(vi) Relief can be considered in the case of newly
allotted shops, for which licensees could not take
possession due to lock down. Since possession was not
given / taken, an agreement was not executed with the
licensees. These licensees constitute a different class than
the existing licensees. In such cases, the effective date of
license may be deemed from the date of resumption of
operation of inter-state buses from ISBT by DTIDC
/GNCTD. They should not be-charged rent for the period
during which shops were not in their possession."
5. Upon receipt of the affidavit, the Petitioners had filed the rejoinder in
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
Signing Date:24.08.2020 22:31
effect submitting that Petitioners wish to withdraw the present writ petition,
subject to the condition that if in future they wish to avail of any remedies in
respect of prayer (c), they should be permitted to do so.
6. The preliminary ground of the Petitioners is that though they are the
successful bidders, the bid is meaningless if the Inter-State bus operations
from the ISBT are not functional. Thus, the allotment of the shops and the
triggering of the license payment would, according to the Petitioners, be
detrimental to the Petitioners' interest. Accordingly, prayers were sought for
directing the Respondent not to issue the possession letters.
7. Considering the decision taken in the Board Meeting by the DTIDC on
its own, the first two prayers stand satisfied. Insofar as prayer (c) is
concerned, the same seeks a direction for framing of a comprehensive policy
by relaxing the license fee on opening of the shops. The stage for opening of
the shops has not yet arisen. At this point, the decision of the DTIDC has
taken care of the grievances of the Petitioners that they may not be forced to
pay the license fee when the ISBT is not fully operational. In view of the
decision of the DTIDC, prayers (a) and (b) do not survive. The ld. counsel for
the Petitioners prays for permission to withdraw the present petition with
liberty to seek such further reliefs as may be available in accordance with law,
at a future stage.
8. In view of the above, the petition is disposed of as withdrawn, with
liberty to Petitioners to seek remedies qua prayer (c) if the need so arises in
the future. All pending applications are also disposed of.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH
JUDGE
AUGUST 24, 2020/Rahul/ A
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
Signing Date:24.08.2020 22:31
