2000 (1) TMI 1003

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....land has vested in the State under Section 10, in as much as the declarant cannot be said to be "holding" the land any longer. Reliance is placed on Section 2(1) which defines the words 'to hold'. We are unable to accept the above contention. The scheme of the Act is that any person holding vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit has to file a declaration under Section 6. Vacant land is defined in Section 2(q) as not including land on which construction is not permissible under building regulations. land occupied by building, before the due date or under construction. Section 2(q) defines urban land as urban land which is referred to as such in master plan etc. but does not include agricultural land. As to what is the ....

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....under Section 20(l)(a) or Section 20(l)(b) or apply under Section 21 or Section 22. For example, the ceiling limit in Hyderabad (from where this case arises), is 1000 Sq. metres. Even if there are buildings within the property, one has to file a declaration if the total extent is more than 1000 Sq. metres and claim exemption as per statutory deductions. He may claim that after deducting various areas as permitted by the statute, he need not surrender any land. The competent authority may or may not accept the statutory deductions claimed, like appurtenant land etc. and may determine excess. The declarant has a right of appeal. The appellate authority may accept or reject or modify the orders. It may turn out that the excess, in a given cas....

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.... its grammatical variations, .in relation to any vacant land means : (i) to own such land; or (ii) to possess such land as owner or as tenant or as mortgagee or under an irrevocable power of attorney or under a hire purchase agreement or partly in one of the said capacities and partly in any other of the said capacity or capacities. The definition of the words "to hold" in section 2(1) is relevant at the time of computation of the ceiling area and at the stage of the preliminary determination of excess and the final determination, under Sections 8 and 9 of the Act, the excess is to be determined on the basis of the land permitted by the Act to be held by a person. But, the word "hold" in Section 20(1) (a) or Sectio....