MATHURA VRINDAVAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY & ANOTHER versus RAJESH SHARMA AND OTHERS

MATHURA VRINDAVAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY & ANOTHER versus RAJESH SHARMA AND OTHERS

The Supreme Court held that levy of development charges/fees is permissible under Section 15(2-A) of the U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 and is settled by the decision in Malti Kaul; however orders of the State under Section 41 cannot authorize levies beyond those enumerated in Section 15(2-A), and therefore demand notices/levies for inspection/supervision fee, sub-division charges, stacking charges, impact fee and similar charges were unlawful and must be set aside; the High Court's decision in Rekha Rani quashing development charges was set aside to the extent it invalidated development charges; amounts paid other than development charges are to be refunded with 6% per...

Parties
Appellant: Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority & Another; Respondent: Rajesh Sharma and Others
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
28 April 2023
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Appeal to Supreme Court; Final Judgment and Disposal
Outcome
Appeals disposed of in part: levy of development charges upheld; levy/demand notices for other charges quashed; Rekha Rani decision quashed insofar as it set aside development charges
Legal Topics
Article 265, Development Charges, Section 15(2 A) U.p. Act, 1973, Section 41 U.p. Act, Refund With Interest
Constitutional Law Administrative Law Urban Planning Property Law Taxation Article 265 Development Charges Section 15(2 A) U.p. Act, 1973 +2 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 6 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority & Another

Appellant

Rajesh Sharma and Others

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal / Appeal to Supreme Court; Final Judgment and Disposal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Development Authorities/State can levy charges other than those specified in Section 15(2-A) of the U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973
  2. 2 Whether State Government in exercise of powers under Section 41 can authorize levies not provided by the Act
  3. 3 Whether levies other than development fees violate Article 265 of the Constitution of India

Ratio Decidendi

The Supreme Court held that levy of development charges/fees is permissible under Section 15(2-A) of the U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973 and is settled by the decision in Malti Kaul; however orders of the State under Section 41 cannot authorize levies beyond those enumerated in Section 15(2-A), and therefore demand notices/levies for inspection/supervision fee, sub-division charges, stacking charges, impact fee and similar charges were unlawful and must be set aside; the High Court's decision in Rekha Rani quashing development charges was set aside to the extent it invalidated development charges; amounts paid other than development charges are to be refunded with 6% per...

Court Disposition

Appeals disposed of in part: levy of development charges upheld; levy/demand notices for other charges quashed; Rekha Rani decision quashed insofar as it set aside development charges

Orders

  • Levy of development charges/fees by the Development Authorities of U.P. is confirmed
  • The High Court decision in Rekha Rani (Civil Appeal No. 4489/2014) quashing the levy of development charges/fees is quashed and set aside to that extent