High court stays notice seeking fine from society

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has restrained the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from recovering nearly Rs 3.17 crore from a society for not complying with the conditions of the occupation certificate since 1970. The conditions had laid down that the society would provide land for road widening-purposes but it had failed to do so over the past 45 years. As a result, the BMC levied a penalty on the society along with a Rs 1.3 crore rent. The court stayed the BMC notice on the grounds that the civic body had failed to enumerate the laws under which the action was being initiated and also asked it to give the petitioners a hearing.

A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla was hearing a writ petition filed by a housing society located at Bima Nagar, Andheri (east) seeking a stay on three notices issued by the BMC demanding payment of Rs 3.17 crore as penalty for using facilities that they were not eligible to use over a period of 45 years. The notices were issued for not handing over a part of the land owned in possession of the society for road widening as a result of which street lights and sewage lines could not be installed. The amount for this violation according to the notice was Rs 1.8 crore.

The second and third notice sought rent of Rs 1.24 crore for use of land that the society was supposed to hand over to the BMC and Rs 11.2 lakh for the demolition of a compound wall that was abutting the land that was to be handed over to the BMC.

On its part, the BMC said that as the society had been given the occupation certificate as well as water connection in 1970 on the condition that it would hand over part of its land as it had utilised the FSI of 18.3 metres of the development plan road. Hence the society was liable to pay pro-rata charges for the use of the land as well as pay a penalty for causing losses to the public at large.