In Brief
The appellant's land was reserved for public purposes under the 1991 Jalgaon Development Plan. In 2007, he issued a purchase notice under Section 49 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, 1966, claiming inability to sell at fair value due to the reservation. The State confirmed the notice in December 2007 and in September 2008 an acquisition application was made, but no further steps were taken for 15 years. The Supreme Court held that while an application was timeously made, the inordinately long delay without acquisition warrants release of the land from reservation. Going forward, owners must serve a fresh notice under Section 127 after 10 years of the plan's publication to trigger lapsing. The appeal was allowed and the property released from reservation.
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