An arbitral tribunal led by former judge Justice AB Chaudhari has ordered Sai Nagar SRA Co-operative Housing Society in Bhandup (East) and 40 dissenting residents to hand over vacant possession of redevelopment land to Chourangi Developers Pvt Ltd. The tribunal also awarded Rs 50.79 crore towards escalation losses arising from delays that stalled the slum rehabilitation project for over a decade.
The dispute relates to the redevelopment of Sai Nagar, a notified slum spread across 16,242.60 sq metres, or roughly 1.74 lakh sq ft, at village Kanjur. The settlement includes nearly 660 hutments and was declared a slum in 1977-78, with official confirmation granted in November 2006. After securing a no-objection certificate from the Urban Land Ceiling Authority in February 2008, the society executed a development agreement with the developer on April 13, 2008, followed by a common consent letter later that year.
However, a group of dissenting residents subsequently formed an unregistered body, Sai Nagar Bachao Samiti, and initiated multiple legal proceedings opposing the project. The tribunal recorded that no court had issued any injunction or stay against the redevelopment despite prolonged litigation.
The developer submitted that it had deposited three years’ transit rent and paid nearly 300 occupants, though only 56 vacated their tenements. The society argued that delays were caused solely by minority dissenters, but the tribunal rejected this claim.
“To say that no time limit was fixed for delivering vacant possession is something strange… possession could not be delayed indefinitely after execution of the development agreement in 2008,” the tribunal observed.
Holding that the developer had been “left high and dry”, the tribunal directed the society and dissenters to hand over possession within six weeks. It restrained further transit rent claims and awarded Rs 50.79 crore with 10% annual interest from August 31, 2025, along with Rs 15 lakh in arbitration costs.
Source: The Free Press Journal
