Haryana govt to undo 2017 amendment in urban areas law
Move comes following reports of circumvention of law by real estate developers
CHANDIGARH: The BJP-led government in Haryana is contemplating to undo a 2017 amendment in Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act it had steered in the state assembly to water down section 7-A of the Act.
The stipulations in section 7-A pertained to the grant of a no-objection certificate (NoC) by the town and country planning department (TCPD) before registration of land in notified urban areas.
The requirement of NoC stating that land transfer does not contravene any provisions of the Act was to prevent ill-planned and haphazard construction in urban areas. An ordinance to amend the law again is likely to be promulgated soon, officials said.
The move to undo the amendment comes in the wake of reports of large-scale violations in registration of sale deeds of properties without obtaining the NoCs in notified urban areas in Gurugram district. Subsequently, the government had last week halted the registration of transfer deeds across the state for a limited period citing alleged corrupt practices. The revenue department, which flagged the section 7-A violations, has written to the TCPD to make appropriate changes in the law.
THE 2017 AMENDMENT
The 2017 amendment in section 7-A of the Act led to two modifications in the provision. First, it decreased the size of notified urban area land holding, for which NoC is required, from less than one hectare (2.5 acres) to less than two kanals. Secondly, the definition of land for which the NoC was required was changed from vacant land to agricultural land. The agricultural land was defined as Nehri (canal irrigated), Chahi (irrigated from well), Barani (dependent on rainfall) or any other term in revenue records.
“The 2017 amendment passed by the assembly ensured that the real estate developers were able to circumvent the requirement of NoC by converting agricultural land into uncultivable (gair mumkin) in revenue records. Also, the reduction of size of land from less than a hectare to two kanals worked to the advantage of realtors,” said a revenue official.
PROPOSED CHANGES
Officials said that as per the proposed amendment in section 7-A of the Act, the definition of notified urban area land and size of the holding for which the NoC was required is being modified. The land holding for which NoC is required is proposed to be less than one acre instead of less than two kanals and the notified urban area land definition will be changed from agricultural to vacant again.
THE GOVT HAD HALTED REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER DEEDS CITING ALLEGED CORRUPT PRACTICES
MOST VIOLATIONS PERTAINED TO SECTION 7-A
Officials said the registration of properties without NoCs in notified urban area land under section 7-A of the Act has led to mushrooming of unauthorised settlements.
“It came to the notice of the Gurugram divisional commissioner that a number of naib tehsildars were executing sale deeds indiscriminately without the NoC,” said an official. The allegations though have been denied by the revenue officials saying that if the structures were built on urban area land notified under section 7-A, the TCPD does not issue NoCs and they have no option but to execute the sale deeds.