The Gujarat High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) direction to the competent authority namely the Vadodara Municipal Corporation to act on the proposal of the Municipal Commissioner dated 21.10.2020 by bringing the said proposal on the agenda of the next General Body Meeting of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, so that the resolution of the said proposal maybe expedited.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that this is a wholly misconceived petition filed in the nature of Public Interest Litigation by an association of Agriculturist and Cultivators of Gujarat State registered under the Trade Union Act 1926 and the Gujarat Trade Unions Regulations, 1963.
The Court noted that the proposal, from the averments made in the petition, pertains to preparation of Town Planning Scheme, which is governed by the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976.
The assertion in the petition is that the draft town planning scheme was approved by the State Government on 17.10.1988 and the plot is assigned to Vadodara Municipal Corporation for the purpose of open space.
It is stated in the petition that the Municipal Commissioner has been authorized on behalf of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation to make amendments in the draft Town Planning Scheme No. 29 vide General Body Resolution.
“All these averments made in the petition are pertaining to progress made in the Town Planning Scheme, which is to be prepared as per the statutory scheme under the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976.”
For the facts stated in the petition, remedy of the petitioner lies elsewhere. The petition in the nature of Public Interest Litigation cannot be entertained to expedite the process of final Town Planning Scheme, which would require completion of various statutory processes in accordance with law, the Bench observed.