The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, though repealed in 1999, is still in force in West Bengal as the repeal Act has not been adopted in our state.
- Section 2(q) defines "vacant land". As per sub-caluse (ii), "vacant land" does not include:
in an area where there are building regulations, the land occupied by any building which has been constructed before, or is being constructed on, the appointed day with the approval of the appropriate authority and the land appurtenant to such building
- Clause (9) of section 4 states:
Where a person holds vacant land and also holds any other land on which there is a building with a dwelling unit therein, the extent of such other land occupied by the building and the land appurtenant
thereto shall also be taken into account in calculating the extent of vacant land held by such person
- Clause (11) of section 4 states:
For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that nothing in sub-sections (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) shall be construed as empowering the competent authority to declare any land referred to in sub-clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) of clause (q) of section 2 as excess vacant land under this Chapter.
- An explanation following the above clause states:
Explanation. - For the purposes of this section and sections 6, 8 and 18 a person shall be deemed to hold any land on which there is a building (whether or not with a dwelling unit therein) if he-
(i) owns such land and the building; or
(ii) owns such land but possesses the building or possesses such land and the building, the possession, in either case, being as a tenant under a lease, the unexpired period of which is not less than ten years at the commencement of this Act, or as a mortgagee or under an irrevocable power of attorney or a hire-purchase agreement or partly in one of the said capacities and partly in any other of the said capacity or capacities; or
(iii) possesses such land but owns the building, the possession being as a tenant under a lease or as a mortgagee or under an irrevocable power of attorney or a hire-purchase agreement or partly in one of the said capacities or partly in any other of the said capacity or capacities.
Here's my dilemma: Say I have a flat in an apartment (constructed under building regulations) in the Kolkata Urban Agglomeration. It seems that the Super Built-up Area of my flat, along with any adjoining free land surrounding the building, will be taken into consideration while calculating the total vacant land I hold. Am I correct?
