This story is from December 9, 2019

Bombay high court seeks to end stays on demolition orders

Bombay high court has directed that the “modus operandi” of getting an urgent stay order against civic demolition notices and continuance of such a stay for years must end.
Bombay high court seeks to end stays on demolition orders
Bombay high court
MUMBAI: Bombay high court has directed that the “modus operandi” of getting an urgent stay order against civic demolition notices and continuance of such a stay for years must end.
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“We have in most of the matters before us noted that, as soon as the municipal corporation issues a notice to any party to remove unauthorized structures, she or he files a suit in the city civil court,” said HC after hearing civic counsel Ashwin Sakolkar and advocate A R Shaikh for a land owner.

HC noted that a person who received a demolition notice, “giving very short notice to the corporation, moves and obtains an ad-interim injunction, not on merits but as a matter of course, since the advocate for the corporation, who is served with the paper at the last minute, is left with no alternative but to seek time to take instructions”.
“Consequently,” said the HC, it is “unable to move further in the matter, since the corporation repeatedly submits that despite the structure being unauthorized, it is unable to take any action because of the order passed by the city civil court”. “This modus operandi cannot continue,” said a bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and B P Colabawalla on December 5 on a 2017 petition by a developer, who sought the demolition of an illegal structure on his property in Kandivli.HC directed the city civil court to decide on the demolition notice within two weeks.

HC said its order be forwarded to the principal judge, city civil and sessions court, to ensure that “urgent orders passed in routine manner without going into merits and without (BMC) getting enough time to take instructions in matters do not continue for an indefinite period”. HC directed that matters concerning unauthorized constructions where stay is given should be heard and decided at the earliest on merit of the case. In the case before HC, it said both sides should appear before the Dindoshi court on December 9 and HC will hear it next on December 19.
In June 2017, an HC bench of Justices A S Oka and Vibha Kankanwadi had issued notice to a marble trader (who erected an alleged illegal structure) and directed BMC to “immediately visit and ascertain whether illegal construction as alleged has been carried out”. HC had also directed BMC two years ago to then demolish any such illegal construction, but after giving notice to the trader.
BMC confirmed that the trader had constructed the structure illegally. The trader then immediately approached the city civil court and obtained a stay in July 2017 against demolition of a 7,150 sqft ground and mezzanine floor structure. For over two years, the stay, which HC said was not passed on merits, has continued against BMC and the matter not taken up for hearing. The HC order now directs the hearing to speed up.
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About the Author
Swati Deshpande

Swati Deshpande is Senior editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, where she has been covering courts for over a decade. She is passionate about law and works towards enlightening people about their statutory, legal and fundamental rights. She makes it her job to decipher for the public the truth, be it in an intricate civil dispute or in a gruesome criminal case.

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