Bombay HC pulls up south Mumbai landlords for risking lives of tenants

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Saturday slammed four landlords in south Mumbai for putting the life and property of tenants to risk.
The court directed a structural engineer and an architect to immediately visit Bhatia Building on Princess Street after tenants apprised it of damage caused to their premises by "unauthorised work" that was carried out by the landlords.

In his order on Saturday, Justice S J Kathawalla said, "Much can be written about the conduct of the landlord who has carried out substantial unauthorised works, thereby damaging the building and exposing the life and property of tenants to grave danger."

However, he said he would not proceed to pen down the details "because the need of the hour is to forthwith remedy the damage."

Shailesh Agarwal, one of the landlords, appeared before the court and "agreed to undo the entire damage by carrying out restoration work."

The high court then directed Amol Shetgiri, the architect, to visit the place along with a structural engineer and submit a report.

The work and time required to complete restoration will be part of the report. The report has to be submitted on Monday, when the matter is to come up for hearing next.

Rusi Postwalla, 82, Bapsy Davierwala, 78 and 16 other tenants of the 130-year-old heritage structure, also known as Sitaram Sadan, had moved court against Agarwal and three others as well as the Mumbai Repair Board after cracks appeared in the building on March 16.

A ground floor occupant had vacated the flat and the four landlords had occupied it in December 2017 or January 2018, said the tenants. On March 17, they were shocked to see the landlords had "unlawfully" dug up the floor and damaged the plinth and iron beams, affecting the structural stability of the building and jeopardising their safety.

On March 22, the tenants who had sought help from the repair board were, instead, asked to vacate the premises as a precaution.

On March 23, "virtually dis-housed", the tenants lodged a criminal case with LT Marg police station. The high court, after hearing the lawyers on Saturday, was aghast and made its displeasure known to the landlords.