'Public Land Can't Be Held Hostage': Delhi High Court In UNI News Agency Case

The Delhi High Court while upholding the cancellation of land allotted to United News of India (UNI) in the city's prominent Central Delhi area, observed that public land cannot be “held hostage” by a defaulting licensee who failed to fulfil the very purpose for which the allotment was granted.

The Delhi Police on Friday evening sealed the UNI office at Rafi Marg.

This, after Justice Sachin Datta in his 98-page order observed that the news agency had in effect been squatting on valuable public land for more than 45 years, despite its inability to perform its obligations.

For context, the land, originally allotted for construction of a composite office complex for news media organisations, remained undeveloped for decades.

UNI had approached the High Court in 2023, challenging a letter issued by the Land & Development Office (L&DO) cancelling its allotment for violating the condition.

The High Court noted that despite multiple allotment letters and opportunities over the years, no meaningful steps were taken to undertake construction or comply with the terms of the allotment.

“The rights granted to the Petitioner under the various allotment letters, are akin to a “bare licensee”. In the very nature of things, the Petitioner's licence is terminable, especially when the very purpose for which it was granted has remained wholly unfulfilled for more than 45 years,” it thus said.

In fact, the Court was of the view that the L&DO afforded unusual and excessive latitude to UNI, despite its continuing default and nonperformance.

“The cancellation order rightly takes into account the fact that the Petitioner has miserably failed to construct the building and that there has been prolonged and unexplained inaction on the part of the petitioner,” it said.

The Court added that facts of the case reveal a situation where valuable public land was effectively been held hostage by a licensee who failed to perform its obligations for decades.

“Such conduct strikes at the very foundation of the allotment framework governing public land. The cancellation of the allotment was, therefore, fully justified and legally inevitable… a licence over public property is not a bounty or largesse to be enjoyed at the will of the licensee…Public land cannot be allowed to be held hostage by a defaulting licensee who has failed to fulfil the very object for which the licence was granted,” it said.

Appearance: Mr. Rajshekhar Rao (Sr. Advocate) along with Mr. Praveen Kumar, Mr. Nikhil Singhvi, Mr. Vinayak Bhandari, Mr. Sarthak Gupta, Mr. Soham Krishan Luthra, Mr. Suman Raj, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr. Chetan Sharma (ASG) along with Mr. Ashish K. Dixit (CGSC) along with Mr. Umar Hashmi, Mr. Gautam Yadav, Advs. and Mr. Gaurav, Mr. Suchit Goyal (Dy, L&DO), Ms. Iqra Sheikh, Mr. Amit Gupta, Mr. R.V. Prabhat, Mr. Yashvardhan and Mr. Naman, Advocates for R-1. Mr. Yashaswi S K Chocksey (GP) for UOI. Mr. Gaurav along with Mr. Yash Narain, Advs. along with Mr. Bipin Bhatt (Section Officer/ L&DO). Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee (ASG) along with Mr. Apoorv Kurup (Sr. Advocate) along with Ms. Gauri Gobhurdun, Mr. Nring C. Zeilang, Advocates for Respondents

Case title: United News of India v. Union Of India Through Land And Development Officer Ministry Of Housing And Urban Affairs & Anr

Case no.: W.P.(C) 5363/2023

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