HC quashes order to probe plaints against ex-chief of MMRDA

According to the complaints, while Madan headed the MMRDA, he had allowed a developer monetary advantage by granting an FSI of 2 on nearly 20 acres meant for a drive-in theatre at BKC.

The Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday quashed an order passed by a lower court judge (under the Prevention of Corruption Act), which allowed the investigation of complaints against UPS Madan, the former commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The Bombay HC quashed an order passed by a lower court judge (under the Prevention of Corruption Act), which allowed the investigation of complaints against UPS Madan, the former commissioner of the MMRDA.

According to the complaints, while Madan headed the MMRDA, he had allowed a developer monetary advantage by granting an FSI of 2 on nearly 20 acres meant for a drive-in theatre at BKC. The HC said the special court judge had not applied his mind, while allowing the investigation against Madan as there was no reason attributed for the investigation nor did it have a sanction from the state government under section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Madan, an IAS officer from the batch of 1983 , had served as the metropolitan commissioner of MMRDA for five years before his appointment in the finance department in 2018.

A division bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing an application filed by Madan against the lower court order. For the complainant activist, advocate Aditya Pratap said the lower court order was valid as the DCR of 1991 had stipulated FSI of 1, but when Madan was MMRDA chief he allowed an increase to 2 and also allowed a change in use of the land meant for a drive-in theatre only.

However, senior advocate Darius Khambatta, representing Madan, said the FSI for BKC was 2 from 1971. Khambatta said although the complainant got permission from the President to allow Madan to be investigated, the permission should have been taken from the state as Madan, although an IAS officer, was employed with the state.