De-zoning of Pune hills -- HC asks State for reasons

De-zoning of Pune hills -- HC asks State for reasons
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

PUNE, MAY 5: In a landmark order in response to a public interest writ petition filed by Express Citizens' Forum (ECF), a division bench of the Bombay High Court presided over by Chief Justice B P Singh has directed the Government of Maharashtra to file an affidavit explaining why it is seeking changes in the regional plan of Pune, de-zoning hills and agricultural land.

This is perhaps the first time that the judiciary has directed the planning authority to state reasons for proposing modifications in a development plan.

The very contention of the ECF was that, by not giving any reason in its notification in December 1999, the State Government had denied the citizens the right to record their suggestions and objections to the proposed modifications in an informed and cogent manner.

When the matter came up for admission before the bench comprising Chief Justice B P Singh and Justice N J Pandya on April 24, the counsel for the Government sought further time to make his submission.

While granting this, however, the bench that the Government files an affidavit explaining why the changes in the plan have been proposed.

The bench also made it clear that, "if no affidavit is filed by June 7 and reasons not disclosed within the time granted, we shall proceed to dispose of the petition on the basis of material on record".

In the last week of December 1999, the principal secretary to the Government in the Urban Development Department published a notification under Section 20 (2) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MR&TP) Act calling for suggestions and objections from citizens to a State Government proposal to de-zone vast areas of hills and agricultural land in outlying area, now merged with the Pune Municipal Corporation, and allowing mostly the fully developable residential construction there.

A delegation of the ECF immediately called on the assistant director of town planning (ADTP), the designated officer to receive copies of suggestions and objections from citizens, and demanded inspection of all documents pertaining to the proposals mentioned in the notification. The ADTP was specifically asked to produce documents of the State Government pertaining to the decision along with the reasons but he could not produce anything other than maps of the area under de-zoning.

The ECF then served a notice on the principal secretary on January 5 this year asking him to make available to the forum the documents containing the reasons for the proposed modification as well as all other relevant information within 10 days.

"The ECF being interested in the planned development of Pune city," said the forum in the notice, "wishes to know the reasons of the State Government to exercise its powers under Section 20 of the MRTP Act and initiate modification of the Regional Plan (RP). The said sanctioned RP has come into effect from February 1998 and therefore it is imperative to know what compels the State Government to modify the same within such a short period after according sanction."

"In the absence of the reasons behind the said proposed modification, the ECF will be severely handicapped and shall not be able to record its suggestions and objections in an informed and cogent manner. The whole purpose behind issuing the public notice will therefore fail. That could not have been the intention of the legislature while enacting the said provisions which guarantee public participation in land use planning through the process of public hearings," it said.

The forum filed the writ petition (7068 of 2000) when the principal secretary did not respond to the notice.

Senior advocate Bal Apte assisted by advocate Sanjay Kshirsagar appeared for the petitioner Express Citizens' Forum.