The Allahabad High Court has ordered a site inspection to verify the status of a disputed group housing plot in Sector 26, Noida, amid ongoing legal conflict between developer SDS Housing and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). The move comes after years of conflicting claims regarding the possession and allotment of the land.
Justice Prakash Padia appointed a court commissioner on Thursday to inspect the disputed site. Advocate Gaurav Gautam will carry out the inspection on Monday, September 15, assisted by officials from the district magistrate’s office, the police commissioner, and YEIDA. The commissioner is required to submit a sealed report by September 18, ahead of the next hearing.
The case revolves around whether SDS Housing received physical possession of the Sector 26 plot. While the developer was allotted the land in 2011 and deposited over Rs 37 crore, it maintains that actual possession was never handed over.
SDS Housing cited a 2021 deputy collector report noting that agricultural activity continued on the plot because additional compensation had not been paid to farmers. The developer argued before the high court that, despite completing initial payments, it had not taken possession, raising questions over YEIDA’s claims.
YEIDA, however, asserts that possession was handed over in December 2012 and submitted a possession certificate as evidence. The authority also challenged the maintainability of the petition, stating that a separate writ petition was already pending against its cancellation order dated September 6, 2022.
The high court rejected YEIDA’s objection, clarifying that the current petition arises from a distinct cause of action: the rejection of SDS Housing’s statutory revision by the state government. Justice Padia observed that the petition is fully maintainable and merits examination.
In October 2024, the Uttar Pradesh government upheld YEIDA’s action, confirming the cancellation of SDS Housing’s Sector 26 allotment and ordering recovery of dues estimated in hundreds of crores. The government’s order responded to SDS Housing’s appeal against YEIDA’s cancellation decision.
Records indicate that while SDS Housing deposited over Rs 37 crore initially and made some subsequent payments, substantial amounts remained unpaid despite repeated notices. As of March 2021, YEIDA calculated the total dues, including lease rent, premium, interest, and other charges, at over Rs 200 crore.
The government’s order also acknowledged that farming activity was ongoing on the land but held that such circumstances did not absolve the developer of its contractual obligations. The ruling emphasized the developer’s financial responsibility regardless of partial usage of the land for agriculture.
The court-directed inspection aims to provide an independent verification of the land’s possession status. The commissioner’s report, expected by September 18, will inform the subsequent hearing and help the high court decide on the enforceability of YEIDA’s cancellation and the developer’s claims of incomplete possession.
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