Plot owners cannot claim layout as Gated, when roads gifted to Local Authority: HC

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court made it clear that those who purchase plots in a layout cannot claim their layout is a gated community, when the developer or layout owner has gifted the internal roads in the venture to the local body and mortgaged a few portions of the venture to it.

The court was dealing with a petition regarding a layout where the developer had built a compound wall and gates on the periphery and sold it as a gated community. The gates were blocking the flow of traffic.

The court said that the purchasers could not defend their claim on the ground that the developer had suppressed information of the gift or mortgage.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji said that the arrangement and agreement between the seller and purchaser of the layout plots would be inter se between them. They would not bind the local authority while implementing the conditions set out in the layout permissions.

“If the residents of the layout or the society have any grievance with regard to the features projected by the promoter in the layout, they may avail the remedies under the law. They cannot seek an excuse in implementing the conditions imposed by the authority, while granting the layout permission,” the bench noted.

The bench was dealing with an appeal which challenged the single judge orders directing the Shadnagar muncipality to act as per the law in the demolition of compound wall constructed by Sri Sai Balaji Developers in the layout on land admeasuring 83 acres and 0825 cents in Survey No.s 139, 140, 145, 146, 147, 150 and 151 of Solipur of Farooqnagar mandal. The wall and gates cut off adjacent roads.

The DTCP accorded permission in 2015 and the developer executed deeds mortgaging 15 per cent of the land and gifting the internal roads in favour of the Shadnagar municipality. That year, revenue authorities issued notices to the developer contending that the layout had encroached on the ‘naksha bata’ pertaining to Hajipally village in Survey No.s.139, 140, 141, 113 and 110, to an extent of two acres and 15 guntas. The developer moved the High Court.

The Shadnagar municipality commissioner then issued notice stating that the developer had advertised the layout as a gated community, constructed a compound wall and installed gates which blocked general traffic.

When this issue came to the High Court, the developer said the wall was constructed for security. After completion of the work, the external gram panchayat roads would be joined to the layout roads.

When the Shadnagar municipality moved to demolish the wall, the plot owners approached the High Court claiming that theirs was a gated community. They also argued why the civic authority had not taken action against the developer for making a false claim regarding the gated community.

The court pointed to the clauses of the DTCP approval, which stated that all roads shall be opened for accessibility to the neighboring sites and that the layout owners/developers shall not construct any compound wall or fencing around the site.