Mumbai: In a reprieve to residents of housing societies at prime locations in Bandra Reclamation and Worli, Supreme Court on Wednesday restrained till Aug 13 the issuance of any work order for cluster redevelopment projects on 132 cumulative acres of land in Mumbai.The state said the large layouts belonged to Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), which had leased them to societies for the high- and middle-income groups and govt employees, but now would redevelop them to increase the affordable housing inventory via public bids. The bid was won by Adani Properties.A group of 10 petitions by cooperative housing societies including HIG Adarsh Nagar, Parijat, B-Adarsh Nagar and Kamalpushpa had challenged govt’s decision for a cluster redevelopment, saying the land had been conveyed to them and their ownership rights cannot be undone by a govt resolution (GR).On July 2, Bombay High Court dismissed the petitions and the challenge by the society as meritless. The state’s action demonstrates a larger public interest, HC held. The multiple affected housing societies disagreed and, aggrieved, went to the apex court to appeal.SC Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard senior counsel Shyam Diwan, Guru Krishna Kumar, Chander Uday Singh and Navin Pahwa for the housing societies and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi for the state at some length. SC then directed the state, Mhada and others to file their replies in a week to the special leave petitions (SLPs). Societies can file their rejoinder in a week thereafter.SC posted the matter next on Aug 13 and said: “Till then, the work order shall not be issued.”Diwan said Maharashtra Advocate General had before HC earlier said no work order would be issued for a while and the deadline was expiring.Allottees or lessees have limited rights, which are subject to Mhada’s right to redevelop the lands, HC had held. Before SC, the lessee societies submit that even where govt is the lessor, it cannot resume (take back possession of) the land in the absence of a breach of lease covenants by the lessee, and if it needs to resume for a public purpose, it has to acquire the leasehold interest under the Land Acquisition Act.Mhada’s stand which HC accepted was that permitting individual societies in layouts such as Adarsh Nagar and Bandra Reclamation to independently redevelop isolated buildings through private developers would completely defeat the larger policy framework underlying the aforesaid GR and Regulation 33 (5).
