Defence restrictions struck down by court no longer applicable, govt to BMC, SRA

The Urban Development (UD) issued a clarification stating that four circulars issued by defense since 2011 were struck down by the Bombay High Court (HC). This provides relief to builders whose projects were stalled due to restrictions imposed on them for being close to defense installations. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) had relaxed restrictions on construction within 500 meters of defense establishments, but later stayed the relaxations. The UD's clarification is based on legal opinion obtained from the State Advocate General. This decision will open up possibilities for many constructions near defense establishments.

In a likely relief to builders whose projects were stalled due to restrictions imposed on them as they stood in close proximity to defence installations, the Urban Development (UD) issued a clarification on Friday to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) about the future of the projects. UD’s move was based on legal opinion obtained from the State Advocate General which stated that four circulars issued by defence since 2011 were struck down by the Bombay high court (HC).

Defence restrictions struck down by court no longer applicable, govt to BMC, SRA

The UD issued the clarification on written queries by the BMC and SRA whether defence guidelines issued in 2011 or 2016 should be followed by them while giving permissions for construction around defence installations.

In a circular issued on December 23, 2022, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had relaxed restrictions on constructions within 500 mts of the establishments, but maintained that constructions falling within 50 mts of highly sensitive installations will continue to require an NOC from the local military authorities.

The circular listed such sensitive installations which included eight army establishments in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Bhusawal, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nasik and Pune. Likewise, this is applicable to naval installations in Colaba, Malad, Ghatkopar, Mankhurd, Powai, Worli, Elephant Island, in Raigad district, Kalyan, Ambernath and Pune. The list also included three Coast Goard installations in Worli, Raigad, and Palghar, and two air force installations in Madh Island and Thane.

However, on February 23, 2023, in a terse two-line directive from Shamistha Maitra, director (lands) at MoD had abruptly stayed the relaxations allowed in December 23, 2022. “It has been decided that the MoD letter under reference shall be kept in abeyance till further orders,” said the letter.

In its response to the queries, the UD letter said the government had sought legal opinion from the State Advocate General based on the HC ruling on September 27, 2023, which struck down defence circulars and ruled the right to property cannot be curtailed by such executive fiats.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Dolby Builders Pvt Ltd, through its director Girish Agarwal, challenging the refusal of no-objection certificate by naval authorities for re-construction of a ground-plus-two storeyed bungalow in Worli, near INS Trata, a missile battery base of the Indian Navy.

When contacted, SRA chief Satish Lokhande said, “We are yet to formally receive the letter from the government. We will act according to the guidelines.”

A senior BMC official said, “We have taken AG’s opinion and the government issued orders after CM’s approval. This will open up possibilities of a lot of constructions near defence establishments.”

An official from National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) said, “More than 5,000 projects located around defence establishments including Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Worli, Chembur, Trombay, Ghatkopar, Kandivli, Malad and Thane will benefit from this.”