The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Gujarat High Court order that directed the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Surat to auction the land allegedly misappropriated for the construction and running of a 5-star hotel.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala passed the order on Friday on a batch of SLPs filed by APMC and Hotel Shilpi Private Limited challenging an interim order of the High Court.
The Bench observed that the High Court was correct in directing such an auction for the land allotted to be utilised for making a district market yard.
It asked, how could the Agriculture Produce Market Committee construct a five-star hotel on the land meant for constructing market yards for agricultural products?
Calling it a ‘scam,’ in which the government may be a willing accomplice, the Apex Court thanked God for the intervention of the High Court.
The matter pertained to a Public Interest Litigation filed before the Gujarat High Court on the alleged misappropriation of public funds by the office bearers of the APMC.
The PIL contended that the APMC had wrongly utilised the ‘Market Committee Fund’ worth Rs 98 crore in the construction of a five star hotel on a piece of land given by the state government for the construction of a principal market yard in district Surat.
The hotel was constructed in 2013-14 and leased to a private person, namely Hotel Shilpi Private Limited. It was contended that such an instance of misutilisation of funds came to light in the Auditor’s report.
The petitioners contended that no approval was taken by the Market Committee for the allocation of public funds for the hotel project.