HC strikes down SRA order to acquire 1,596-sq-mtr land of Mount Mary Church

HC strikes down SRA order to acquire Mount Mary Church land for slum dwellers, allows church to rehabilitate them. SRA failed to consider church's redevelopment proposals.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday struck down an order issued by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) for acquiring 1,596-sq-metre land of Mount Mary Church in Bandra West. The HC also allowed the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount to rehabilitate the 35 slum dwellers who have encroached upon the church land.

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Bishop John Rodrigues, the sole trustee and rector of Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, had filed a petition challenging the March 29, 2022 order passed by the chief executive officer of SRA for the acquisition of land owned by the church to rehabilitate 35 slum dwellers.

Bishop Rodrigues primarily contended that the trust’s preferential right, as the owner of the land, to redevelop the land occupied by the 35 hutments and to rehabilitate them was taken away by the CEO, SRA by resorting to compulsory acquisition of the land, at the behest of the proposed society of the slum dwellers and the developer appointed by them.

It was also argued on his behalf that the action taken by the SRA at the behest of the proposed society as also the developer to acquire the petitioner’s land, was wholly arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable, as the petitioner’s several letters and representations stating that the petitioner intended to develop the subject land, have been totally ignored.

SRA opposed the petition, stating the petitioner did not submit a proposal for redevelopment to the CEO, SRA, within a period of 120 days from 29 December 2020 or the gazette notification dated 31 December 2020 – when the area was declared a census slum, as required under the Slum Act.

Besides, the authority also claimed that the petitioner had failed to provide basic amenities to the slum dwellers residing on the subject land and therefore the slum dwellers have formed the proposed society and submitted a proposal for a slum rehabilitation scheme.

The division bench of justice GS Kulkarni and justice Jitendra Jain accepted the arguments advanced on behalf of the petitioner, holding that the CEO could not have resorted to compulsory acquisition of the private land at the behest of the slum dwellers, especially when the petitioner had expressed his willingness to develop the land and rehabilitate the slum dwellers.

“In the present case, the record is replete with materials that the petitioner, at all material times, had expressed its willingness before the CEO, SRA, as also the slum dwellers to the effect that the petitioner at all material times was willing to undertake redevelopment of the slum area and to provide to the 35 slum dwellers a permanent alternate accommodation,” the bench said.

As regards the order for compulsory acquisition of the land, the bench said that private land under Section 14 of the Slum Act cannot be acquired merely because of the desire of the slum society to do so. “If such meaning is to be attributed to Section 14, the provision would be rendered draconian, bringing horrendous consequences not imagined by the legislature, and extraneous to the provision,” the bench added.