After a nearly six decades-old legal battle with the Golechas, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation finally got the prime land worth hundreds of crores of rupees on MI Road, but the dream of a Town Hall remains a dream as the said land is trapped in a legal tangle.
JAIPUR: After a nearly six decades-old legal battle with the Golechas, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation finally got the prime land worth hundreds of crores of rupees on MI Road, but the dream of a Town Hall remains a dream as the said land is trapped in a legal tangle.
The Supreme Court recently upheld the division bench order of the high court granting the ownership of the land to the civic body on an appeal by Golechas. Senior counsel Manish Singhvi argued for the municipal corporation while senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former solicitor general Ranjit Kumar argued for Golechas.
The said land in question is described as 440 square ft. towards east-west and 397 square ft. towards north to south on Mirza Ismail and Ajmer Road opposite the government hostel, which is also known as the Aloo factory. The then Jaipur municipal council administrator decided to purchase the land from Seth Hamir Mal Golecha in 1960 for Rs 1,57,000 along with the malwa (debris) at Rs 23,000 after Ghanshyam Das Birla during a visit to Jaipur in August 1959 offered to donate Rs 10 lakh for the construction of a Town Hall provided the municipal council could make available a suitable site at a prominent place in the city.
According to the deal between the municipal council and Hamir Mal Golecha, the price of the land was settled was at Rs 1,57,000 of which the municipal council should pay Rs 30,000 as advance. The balance was to be paid by the council at the time of registration of the sale deed. The council agreed to pay Rs 23,000 towards the cost of malwa. Thus, the total amount, which was required to be paid was Rs 1,57,000 + Rs 23,000. The council paid Rs 1,74,500 and a balance of Rs 5,500 remained payable to Golecha.
But Golecha avoided the execution of sale deed on one pretext or the other and sold off the land to one Bhagawan Das Mangal for just Rs 70,000 in July 1963. Since then the legal battle started. The trial court in Jaipur and single bench ordered in favour of Golechas but the division bench of the high court set aside the order which was challenged by the Golechas in the apex court.
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