Quasi-judicial cancellation of building permission requires prior notice, disclosure of material, and a fair hearing before action is taken.

Section 258 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 is described as a quasi-judicial power when used to cancel an already granted building permission on the basis of alleged misrepresentation or fraud. Because cancellation prejudicially affects civil rights and depends on the authority's satisfaction about a jurisdictional fact, the Commissioner must act fairly, on relevant material, and in compliance with natural justice. The affected person must be informed of the allegations, supplied with the material relied on, and given a reasonable opportunity to respond before cancellation. An order passed without prior notice and hearing is invalid.

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Issues: Whether the Municipal Commissioner's power to cancel building permission under Section 258 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 is quasi-judicial and must be exercised in conformity with the principles of natural justice, including prior notice and a fair opportunity of hearing.

Analysis: The cancellation of an already granted building permission prejudicially affects civil rights and can be exercised only where the Commissioner is satisfied that the permission was obtained by material misrepresentation or fraudulent statement. That satisfaction is a jurisdictional fact and the power is not a bare administrative discretion. The statute, read with the consequences flowing from cancellation and the possibility of the work being treated as unauthorised, indicates that the authority must act justly, fairly, and on relevant material. Before cancelling permission, the affected person must be clearly informed of the alleged misrepresentation or fraud, supplied the material relied upon, and given a reasonable opportunity to correct or controvert the charge.

Conclusion: The power under Section 258 is quasi-judicial and cannot be exercised without compliance with natural justice; the impugned cancellation order, having been passed without prior notice and hearing, was invalid.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory power cancels an already conferred permission on the basis of alleged misrepresentation or fraud, the authority must act quasi-judicially and afford prior notice and a fair opportunity of hearing, since breach of natural justice vitiates the order.

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