In a setback to veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, the Bombay high court on Monday dismissed her petition challenging the state government’s decision to declare her property, Jayprabha Studio in Kolhapur, a heritage structure.
The government had, on December 29, 2012, passed an order declaring the studio a heritage structure.
Ms Mangeshkar moved the court against the decision, saying that due to the heritage status, the studio could not be renovated, rebuilt or repaired. She was given no notice before declaring the studio a heritage structure, as it is required under Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act.
The contention of the petitioner is that the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the planning authority and it is supposed to declare which structure or building is heritage, but the state government used its powers and allowed the deputy director of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act to do the job.
It was also argued by her that the officer appointed by the government under the MRTP Act could have only do a ministerial job and he cannot form any opinion after hearing the suggestion and objections. It was pointed out that on one the hand the corporation said the building was dilapidated and therefore should be demolished while on the other hand it also said the studio was a heritage structure and could not be demolished.
According to Ms Mangeshkar, the state’s decision was arbitrary and the MRTP did not follow the procedure to slot in heritage structures and hence it should be discarded.
On the other hand, the government pleader told the court that this issue has been going on since 1995 and the state government first directed the KMC to incorporate premises in the heritage list as per the procedure and sent several reminders for the same but the KMC did not take any steps and the state used its power and directed MRTP authorities to slot heritage structures.
The state submitted before the bench that the procedure was followed while giving a heritage tag to these structures and provided a list of persons to the court and said they had raised objections when the MRTP invited objections from public but the petitioner never raised an objection than and now she has approached the court and hence her petition should not be entertained.
The division bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice V.L. Achliya observed that the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation had shown negligence in completing the process of declaring the studio a heritage structure and therefore the state government appointed an officer to complete the process. The bench was of the opinion that the government’s act of appointing an officer was completely legal.
The singer bought the 13-acre plot, where the studio stands, from renowned Marathi filmmaker Bhalji Pendharkar in 1959. Pendharkar had bought the land from the erstwhile princely state of Kolhapur on the condition that it would be used for building a film studio.
