Updated: December 16, 2020 4:11:18 pm
A board placed by the Center on land in Kanjurmarg. (Express photo: Deepak Joshi)
In a setback for the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court approved an interim order on Wednesday, suspending the transfer of 102 acres of land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to build a shed for the subway. . The HC was listening to a petition presented by the Center, which states that the land belonged to it.
The state government, through the Mumbai Suburban District Collector, had ordered the transfer of the land from the Kanjurmarg Salt Flats on October 1. It was delivered to MMRDA on October 6. Subsequently, the MMRDA transferred the land to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRCL) on October 8.
However, a bank in the division of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni prevented DMRCL from carrying out its ongoing operations on land until new orders were issued. The case will be known in February 2021.
The order was approved two days after the HC asked the Maharashtra government to consider whether the collector could withdraw the order to transfer the land to MMRDA.
Hon’ble HC has granted a stay to Kanjurmarg’s work. We await the detailed written order to decide the future course of action.
This land is crucial for metro lines 6, 4 and 14 in addition to 3 as it will save almost ₹ 5.5 billion rupees from the government and will be a 1 million rupee nodal point for citizens.– Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) December 16, 2020
On Monday, Attorney General Kumbhakoni, who appeared for the state, stated that since the Assembly session was ongoing, he should have two days to respond to the court’s suggestion.
On Wednesday, Kumbhakoni said the state government was complying with the collector’s order and would withdraw it without the MMRDA leaving the land. The state government said it was open to suggestions from the parties in the case and that the collector can listen to them.
Additional Attorney General Anil Singh, representing the Center, opposed this, saying the court should set aside the collector’s order. Singh said that the state should not have the opportunity to hear the parties again, as the land belonged to the Center.
The court was hearing the Center’s brief, filed through its deputy salt commissioner, challenging a November 2018 order from the finance minister stating that while the state owned several salt flats in Mumbai, some were privately owned. .
Meanwhile, MMRDA’s lead attorney Milind Sathe had argued that the Kanjurmarg car shed was essential to the Metro project and therefore MMRDA was allowed to continue work on the land.
The MMRDA highlighted the financial benefits of building an integrated car shed and said it would have to spend an additional amount of almost Rs 2,300 crore on land acquisition and Rs 1,600 crore as operating costs if the project was suspended by the HC. “It is not necessary to annul the adjudication order. Possession and restoration will lead to many complications, ”said Sathe.
Thereafter, lead attorney Shyam Mehta, representative of Maheshkumar Garodia from the Garodia Group, who also challenged the collector’s order, said there was a pending lawsuit in the city’s civil court for possession of the land and that the order it was approved without being aware of it, and not I do not listen to all parties involved. Garodia claimed that he was the tenant of nearly 500 acres of land in the village of Kanjur.
Mehta said the subordinate court order, which asked to maintain the status quo, was in favor of his client and therefore the state government could not claim the land until the claim was known. Mehta said the land was reserved for low-cost housing, and private developer Shapoorji Pallonji applied to build thousands of affordable homes. Therefore, he said, it cannot be transferred for the metro project.
Garodia, a legal representative of the former salt maker, further claimed that as of January this year, the state government’s technical advisor was of the opinion that Kanjurmarg was not a viable option for the construction of the car shed and had changed the land reservation. in the Aarey colony and had spent almost 200 million rupees on preparations. And now they claim that Kanjurmarg is the most suitable for the project, Mehta said.
CJ Datta had said Monday, “The Collector knows there is a pending lawsuit. In your order, is there any mention about the costume? No reference at all? He just turned a blind eye … there should be a proper exercise of power. We will not allow this order to be kept. Prima facie we believe that the matter should go to the collector. Let him decide after listening to Garodia and others. “
The court had also sought to know from Kumbhakoni whether the city’s civil court order also covered the 102-acre site in question.
On Wednesday, Mehta presented that the state government was obligated to withdraw the order, vacate the facility and then hear the parties again.
On Wednesday, the HC noted that it was informed of an “interesting fact” that the state government had previously requested 102 acres of land for the shed in a case from Suresh Bafna, who owns a portion of the land in Kanjurmarg, and would listen to what same together with the declaration of the Center in February 2021.
“You must wait for the decision on that request. After looking at the maps, we feel that it is the same plot. Every day there is a twist and a twist in events, ”CJ Datta commented.
While announcing the scrapping of the subway car shed project in Mumbai Aarey colony in October, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said the project would be moved to government-owned land in Kanjurmarg.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Vice President Ajit Pawar said that the state government may address the Supreme Court against the Superior Court’s order. “In the Constitution and the law, there is a provision to file an appeal against a judicial decision. Therefore, it will be thought about ”, quoted the PTI.
Pawar said the government’s decision to move the Aarey car depot project to Kanjurmar appeared to have “hurt a lot of people” and that the NDA-run Center took an “extreme step” as a result.
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