As per petitioners, in June 2019, the BMC had filed a revision plea challenging the 1965 order without obtaining prior sanction from the government.The Bombay High Court recently gave reprieve to around 8,000 flat and shopowners in Lokhandwala Complex and Oshiwara by setting aside a Maharashtra government order that had allowed the re-opening of a 55-year-old case.
The government had permitted the BMC to file a revision plea in connection to a 1965 order issue by an additional collector, which had vested rights of a 723-acre plot in favour of the person in possession of the land, who had rights over the land as was granted during the British regime in 1885.
The BMC, in 2019, had sought revision of the 1965 order, as it had utilised 65 acre of the plot for constructing a sewage treatment plant and the landowners had sought compensation. In a communication to the government, it had sought permission to revise the 1965 order, claiming that it would have to pay a huge amount as compensation for land acquisition to the owners.
Thereafter, the government had allowed revision of the order, prompting co-operative housing societies in Lokhandwala Complex and Oshiwara – also constructed on the 723-acre plot – to challenge the state’s permission to BMC before the HC. The housing societies had claimed that if the outcome of the revision went in favour of BMC, it would render them landless.
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Accepting the grievances raised by the housing societies, the HC on August 29 set aside the state’s permission and BMC’s request seeking revision of the 1965 order.
Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka and Justice M G Sewlikar noted that between 1860 and 1948, the principal collector of Konkan had granted the entire village of Oshiwara – measuring 723 acre – to the predecessors of Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Private Limited (BJPL) without the requirement to pay land revenue.
As per petitioners, the BJPL had spent over Rs 2 lakh prior to 1947 for development of the entire land for construction of salt pans. In 1948, the entire land was reserved for non-agricultural and industrial development.
In 1961, the government had notified a part of the land for acquisition for housing purposes. On January 9, 1965, the additional collector, dismissing an appeal filed by the government against the Mamlatdar’s order, had held that the entire 723-ace plot was not a “waste land” and cannot be declared property of the state under the Salsette estates Act. The order was acted upon from 1965 to 2020.
As per petitioners, in June 2019, the BMC had filed a revision plea challenging the 1965 order without obtaining prior sanction from the government.
Between December 31, 2020, and January 8, 2021 orders, the government granted permission to the Konkan divisional commissioner to decide on merit the revision plea, prompting the petitioners to file a writ petition stating that they were not heard before the order was passed.
The HC held, “The petitioners are not required to wait till the revision application is decided….order of granting permission by state after 55 years itself can be impugned independently… The rights, which are already accrued and vested in favour of the petitioners and large number of unit holders in the last 55 years, cannot be reopened by granting such permission at such belated stage.”