Public Authority Possesses Power Only To Use It For Public Good: Supreme Court

Supreme Court said it is the duty of the State to ensure that a non-discriminatory method is adopted, be it for distribution or allotment of licence on his own land or alienation of property and it is of paramount consideration that "every action of the State should always be in public interest".

A public authority possesses power only to use it for public good and this imposes a solemn duty on the State to act impartially and to adopt a procedure of allotment of licence which is "fair play in action", the Supreme Court has said.

The Supreme Court observed this while dismissing the appeals against the August 2015 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which said that policy adopted by the authorities in Haryana for grant of licence for development of a group housing colony under the final development plan of Gurgaon-Manesar urban complex for 2025 on the principle of first come first serve (FCFS) basis cannot be held to be fair.

The top court noted that the undisputed facts which have emerged from the record are that the October 2010 public notice, the final development plan of May 2011 and policy instructions regarding receipt and validity of applications nowhere prescribed that method of allotment of licence shall be on the FCFS basis.

"Although this factor cannot be ruled out that those who are interested parties, they were aware of this so-called alleged practice of first come first serve adopted in the office of the State respondent and that was the reason for which even before the public notice dated October 1, 2010 came to be published on October 4, 2010, people start running for submitting their applications as if they are participating in the mad race..," a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and AS Oka said.