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Non-payment of rent: Mumbai Port Authority serves eviction notices on 39 families in Fort
Thirty-nine families from a residential building on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road in Fort have received notices from the Mumbai Port Authority (MPA), formerly called Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), to vacate their homes for defaulting on payment of rent which, as per the revised rates, runs into lakhs of rupees
Thirty-nine families from a residential building on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road in Fort have received notices from the Mumbai Port Authority (MPA), formerly called Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), to vacate their homes for defaulting on payment of rent which, as per the revised rates, runs into lakhs of rupees.
The execution order dated September 1 has been pasted on the Engineer building under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. The order signed by one S B Mahale stated that if the house is found locked, the authorised officer can seal it or, in the presence of two witnesses, break open the locks and do an inventory of the articles.
Meanwhile, aggrieved residents have moved the Bombay high court challenging the notices and the matter is slated to come up for hearing on Monday.
Most of the 200-odd residents are senior citizens from middle-class income families.
“I have been living here for more than 50 years, and I have been paying ₹900 monthly rent. However, we were kept in the dark and people continued to buy the place at market value for commercial use till 2019. The landlord had that year got a notice that there was an outstanding dues of ₹13 crore and if it were not paid tenants would have to vacate,” second-floor resident Kamruzzama Naik said.
He called the MbPT’s move impractical and unjust. “The revised rent is beyond our reach. How do we pay the rent in lakhs? If residents are thrown out, they will come on roads. The landlord says he has no money to pay. What will happen to the children and senior citizens? Why are we being harassed when we have paid our rent every month. We are not defaulters.”
Ayesha Naik, 89, another resident, suffered a paralytic attack after getting the notice and later made a video requesting MbPT not to evict her as she would end up on the street.
Advocate Prerak Choudhary, who has already filed 30 petitions in the court on this matter, is representing the residents. “About 200 residents have approached me to protect their life and livelihood. The underlying issue is there are properties from Colaba to Wadala and the cumulative value of the land will be several lakhs of crores of rupees. These lands were given out on lease years ago. The original lessees have changed hands from 1930-40 till today. In a few cases, the lessees have given out property on rent. Most of the leases have expired. They were supposed to execute fresh leases from 1994 for a period of 30 years as per the Supreme Court judgment. But the MbPT didn’t do that for reasons best known to them.”
He said the MbPT recently came out with a policy retrospectively effective 2012, which stated that rent would be charged as per the revised rates. “For example, if a person paid a monthly rent of ₹8,700, they would now have to pay ₹2.50 lakh. How will these residents afford such an exorbitant rent?”
While eviction notices have been issued only to Engineer building, demand notices asking for the revised rent have been served on at least 200 buildings in Colaba. The failure to pay the revised rent will declare them defaulters and action will be initiated under the public premises Act as is the case with the Engineer building’s residents.
“They are basically targeting two-three lakh people, including trade associations, along the Colaba-Wadala belt,” Choudhary said.
When contacted, MbPT chairman Rajiv Jalota said, “Eviction doesn’t happen all of a sudden or overnight. It goes on for years under the Act and if the case turns in our favour we are bound to take action. Residents have to approach the high court as we are issuing notices as per due process of law.”
About the demand notices, Jalota said they were issued after obtaining approval of the tariff authority. “Last year, a notice was issued by the tariff authority with the revised rates which should have been applied since 2012 but were pending. They have been applied now.”
The demand notices are of two types - 2012 to 2017 and 2017 to 2022 – under the land management policy. The MbPT land stretches from Colaba to Wadala but residents in Colaba and a few buildings in Ballard Estate and Fort are affected.
On Sunday, Subash Motwani, president of Clean Heritage Colaba Residents’ Association, along with advocate Choudhary and 200 residents held a silent march to highlight this issue.
“This is our first step towards opposing the MbPT’s draconian rents that run into crores. This is illegal and being imposed by the central government misusing the public premises Act and they plan to displace lakhs of individuals,” Motwani said.
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