October 8, 2025: The Bombay High Court has ordered perjury proceedings against four trustees of a Goregaon East-based religious trust for allegedly making false statements to obstruct the demolition of seven structures linked to a slum redevelopment project. The court found that the trustees had misused provisions of the Slum Redevelopment Act to wrongfully claim rehabilitation benefits.
Justice Kamal Khata, while delivering the order, remarked, “This extortion in the guise of being helpless slum dwellers must be curbed.” The trustees have also been directed to pay Rs 2.5 lakh to the Shree Nityanand Ashram old age home in Mira Road within four weeks for “attempting to play a fraud on the court.”
The case concerns Masjid and Madrasa Gausiya, a trust that approached the High Court alleging that authorities were unlawfully demolishing their properties. The trustees claimed the structures were under Waqf ownership and that they were entitled to Permanent Alternative Accommodation Agreements (PAAAs) under the redevelopment scheme.
However, Indu Construction’s counsel, advocate Mayur Khandeparkar, described the petition as a “classic case of extortion.” He informed the court that the trustees had altered the name and nature of their trust—from a madarsa to a masjid—to claim eligibility for PAAA despite not being listed in Annexure-II, which specifies eligible beneficiaries.
The court observed that the trustees had concealed a prior order dated May 27, in which they had voluntarily agreed to vacate the premises. Justice Khata noted that the petitioners had “attempted to mislead the court and suppressed material facts from their own counsel,” and therefore did not deserve judicial relief.
Khandeparkar also presented the trust’s 2022–23 audit report, which contradicted their claims about changes in the organisation’s status. Of the 690 slum dwellers involved in the project, 383 have already shifted to transit camps, leaving only one structure to be cleared.
Source: Hindustan Times
