HC removes builder who delayed development of prime BMC plot in Byculla

The composite redevelopment will cover 11 dilapidated municipal tenanted chawls and the rehabilitation of 523 slum dwellers who have encroached on around 1,682 square metres of the property, whose total area is 10,525 square metres

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has struck down an order issued by the Maharashtra government’s Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (AGRC) restoring Krish Developers as the builder for a prime municipal plot in Byculla spread over 10,525 square metres.

Mumbai, India. June 14, 2024: Ekta-MJP housing society (Proposed) site at Byculla area in Mumbai. June 14, 2024. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The composite redevelopment will cover 11 dilapidated municipal tenanted chawls and the rehabilitation of 523 slum dwellers who have encroached on around 1,682 sq m of the property.

The AGRC had struck down an order passed by the chief executive officer of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) terminating Krish Developers’ appointment to undertake the composite redevelopment. The committee had also struck down all permissions granted to Renaissance Buildcon, which was appointed by the Ekta MJP Cooperative Housing Society, a proposed society of the property’s occupants.

The court said there was complete inaction and omission on the part of Krish Developers right since the project began over a decade ago, and even after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a no-objection certificate to the firm in November 2015. The court noted that the developer did not take any steps to implement the redevelopment project.

“In this entire process, the sufferers were the municipal tenants, slum dwellers and the vacant land tenants of MCGM (BMC),” said Justice Jadhav. He added that the Supreme Court and the high court have repeatedly reiterated that slum dwellers and occupants of dilapidated buildings cannot be at the mercy of the developer.

The court also said the AGRC completely disregarded the SRA’s objections to the developer’s plea, primarily about the delay in the execution of the project, which was conceived in 2006. The court added that the committee also disregarded the fact that Krish Developers had not taken any effective steps to execute the project and wrongly held that the delay was not attributable to the builder.

The court, thereby, ruled that the AGRC order was unsustainable and struck it down. The counsel for Krish Developers then sought to continue the status quo order granted four years ago. The court, however, refused to continue the status quo order considering the circumstances of the case and the fact that the project has already been delayed considerably.