[Landmark Judgement] Navjyoti Coop. Group Housing Society v. Union of India (1992)

Landmark Judgment Law Insider (1)

Published on: 20 September, 2022 at 10:32 IST

Court – Supreme Court of India

Citation – Navjyoti Coop. Group Housing Society v. UOI (1992) 4 SCC 477

Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that Doctrine of ‘Legitimate Expectation’ imposes in essence a duty on public authority to act fairly by taking into consideration all relevant factors relating such as fair dealing, the reasonable opportunities to make representation by the parties likely to be affected by any change of consistent past policy.

It may be indicated here that the doctrine of ‘legitimate expectation’ imposes in essence a duty on public authority to act fairly by taking into consideration all relevant factors relating to such ‘legitimate expectation’.

Within the conspectus of fair dealing in case of ‘legitimate expectation’, the reasonable opportunities to make representation by the parties likely to be affected by any change of consistent past policy, come in. We, have not been shown any compelling reasons taken into consideration by the Central Government to make a departure from the existing policy of allotment with reference to seniority in registration by introducing a new guideline.

On the contrary, Mr Jaitley the learned counsel has submitted that the DDA and/or Central Government do not intend to challenge the decision of the High Court and the impugned memorandum of January 20, 1990 has since been withdrawn.

It was only desirable that before introducing or implementing any change in the guideline for allotment, an opportunity to make representations against the proposed change in the guideline should have been given to the registered Group Housing Societies, if necessary, by way of a public notice.

Drafted by – Abhijit Mishra

Key Words – Legitimate Expectation, Public Notice, Public Authority

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