Bombay HC Rebukes TMC for Approving Illegal Construction on Nullah

The Bombay High Court on Monday overturned the Thane Municipal Corporation’s (TMC) order to regularise an unlawful private developer’s development on a public drain, raising legal and public interest concerns.

The court chastised TMC for offering deceptive reasoning and failing to follow the law, eventually overturning the regularisation ruling dated February 5, 2005. The court ordered TMC and the developer to pay ₹1 lakh apiece to the petitioners, members of a local cooperative housing association.

The petition arose in response to the activities of the third respondent, a builder and mall owner who was accused of building a shopping complex and multiplex theatre over a municipal Nallah (drain).

Advocate Anmol Mhatre, representing the petitioners, stated that the regularisation order was arbitrary and violated the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP Act) and the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act (MMC Act). He asserted that the TMC’s judgment was founded on a mistaken belief that the construction was required for access, claiming that the housing complex had always had direct access until the developer’s activities prevented it.

The court determined that the TMC’s attempt to regularise the construction was based on irrelevant and non-existent material, characterising the judgment as arbitrary and devoid of meaningful consideration. It stressed that any restriction to public drains has a major impact on the community, particularly in flood-prone urban areas.

Source: Hindustan Times 

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