Government chided over land for Law university

Mumbai: The Bombay high court came down heavily on the state for not taking the steps to hand over a 60-acre land at Gorai to set up the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU). In an earlier order, the court had directed the state to identify, measure and mark the land at Gorai and ensure that the work for the university started expeditiously. However, officials from the suburban collector’s office said they were conducting meetings with various departments and project affected persons, which had caused the delay.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dr Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Pradip Havnur, which complained of no concrete steps being taken to hand over the plot identified for MNLU.

The PIL further said that as the state was dragging its feet, making the MNLU function from a temporary premise at Powai, in an MTNL building that did not have a proper library or infrastructure facilities. This was causing inconvenience to the students. Senior counsel Milind Sathe appeared for the petitioner.

The 60-acre plot allotted was to MNLU in January and is part of a 140-acre parcel of land at Gorai. The decision of this allotment had attracted the opposition from the locals and to counter it, the court had directed the state to take help of the police to get the measurements done.

After hearing the contention, the bench said, “What is the point of holding meetings when there is no progress towards demarcating the plot and handing it over to the MNLU.”

The court then directed the infrastructure committee of MNLU, the district collector and the revenue department official to mark the plot and get it fenced after a joint visit within two weeks.