HC quashes Lucknow authorities' order fixing land rates

The Allahabad High Court today quashed a 2003 order of Lucknow district magistrate fixing circle rates of land and property while observing that it was "illegal and inoperative".
A division bench of justices Devi Prasad Singh and Rajiv Sharma passed the judgement on a writ petition filed by Praveen Kumar Jain.
The petitioner had challenged the earlier order on the ground that it had been issued "arbitrarily and without following due process of law".
"The impugned circular does not assign any reason for enhancement of circle rate. It suffers from voice of arbitrariness," the bench observed.
It further said that it appears that the district magistrates all over the state changed the circle rates mechanically without taking a note of the legal proposition.

The bench directed that a copy of the judgement be sent to the chief secretary and the principal secretary (revenue) for circulation to all departments concerned within a month and a compliance report be submitted immediately thereafter.