July 29, 205: In a stern rebuke, the Bombay High Court on Monday censured the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for what it described as the illegal and heavy-handed conduct of its executive engineers. The court took serious note of over 900 redevelopment notices issued under Section 79A of the MHADA Act, calling them a blatant abuse of power and a violation of the constitutional rights of owners—and in many cases, tenants—of cessed buildings.
The division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Arif Doctor, while hearing a batch of petitions, criticised the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (a statutory unit of MHADA) for acting without proper jurisdiction. “This is a regime of colossal arbitrariness,” said the court, describing the actions as “bald, brazen and patent illegalities.”
The court ruled that simply staying the notices was inadequate and instead ordered a full inquiry. A two-member committee, comprising former High Court judge Justice J P Devadhar and retired principal district judge Vilas Dongre, has been appointed to investigate all 935 notices issued under Section 79A. The panel will also examine the withdrawal of some notices, and whether any officials acted with ulterior motives.
Section 79A, introduced in December 2022, allows MHADA to acquire and redevelop cessed buildings deemed dangerous if neither landlords nor tenants initiate redevelopment. However, the court stated that a building cannot be declared unsafe based solely on an engineer’s visual inspection. The justices warned that such notices could be misused to push redevelopment in favour of vested interests.
The High Court also questioned the authority of MHADA’s vice-chairman to issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) dated 5 December 2024, which effectively created a parallel administrative structure. The court refused MHADA’s plea for a stay and scheduled the matter for further hearing on 12 August, seeking a full report within six months.
Source: Times Of India
