HC refuses relief to Jai Bhim Nagar residents, allows demolition

The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition against BMC's planned demolition of encroachments in Powai, citing safety concerns, but no action occurred.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by residents of Jai Bhim Nagar in Powai, challenging the demolition action scheduled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on that day. Raising concerns over the dangers of footpath encroachment, the court allowed the corporation to go ahead with the demolition. However, no demolition action took place on Monday.

Mumbai, India - August 14, 2025: Residence of the Jai Bhim nagar slam staying on the footpath at Powai in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, August 14, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Meena Govind Limbole and 23 others, who filed the petition on Monday, stated that they have fallen victim to the brutal power of the State administration, consisting of police personnel and BMC officials, who formed “a deadly combination” at the behest of a local builder/developer. More than 800 families were ousted in June last year in an allegedly high-handed, illegal, and inhuman action of demolition of houses in which they had been living for more than two decades. “In the operation, 800 huts housing over 3000 people were thrown out of their homes after the police and BMC personnel entered their premises and assaulted them brutally,” it said. The petitioners alleged that the Powai police and BMC officials not only beat up the slum dwellers but also falsely implicated them in criminal offences under the Maharashtra Police Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

The petition by the CHS further alleged that the concerned authorities have not taken appropriate steps to shift the hutment dwellers to suitable places by removing encroachment on the footpath yet. Authorities have ignored cooking activities that led to fire in the past, alleged the petition. As residents wash their clothes and utensils on the footpath, it has made the area unhygienic and increases risks of a disease outbreak, it added. “This omission on the part of the office of the concerned authorities is completely illegal, and affecting the lives of residents of the Petitioners and other societies too,” the petition stated.

Consequently, on July 7, 2025, the high court observed that the neatly built pavement in Powai was “completely encroached” by tin and plastic sheds used not only for shelter but for daily activities such as cooking, selling food, and drying clothes. “When large public expenditure is incurred in creating such infrastructure… the Municipal Corporation and its officers simply turn a blind eye,” noted the division bench of justice GS Kulkarni and justice Arif Doctor.

The court on Monday directed the municipal corporation to form a special cell consisting of an additional commissioner and two senior officers to group wards and survey all encroached footpaths in Mumbai. Following this, the cell would take out eviction action against the encroachers.

Following the order, the civic body informed the court that it intends to demolish the slum colony with police assistance on Monday. Advocate Rakesh Singh, who is representing the residents, said BMC officials had not reached the spot on Monday evening.