November 12, 2025: In a significant interim order, the Bombay High Court has restrained the developer of The Imperial twin towers in Tardeo from undertaking any construction that goes beyond the sanctioned layout plan of December 2009. The ruling brings temporary relief to 48 flat owners who had alleged that the developer planned to build additional towers and flats in violation of project norms.
Justice Sandeep V. Marne, while hearing a suit filed by Rajkumar Gulati and others, observed that “apart from being notably crowned with spires and glass enclosures as a key architectural feature, ‘The Imperial’ also wore the crown of being India’s tallest building for a few years in the past.” He further noted that, “ironically, however, the ultra-luxurious twin towers of ‘The Imperial’, which are home to affluent residents, are a product of an incentive offered to the developer for rehabilitation of poor slum dwellers on the encroached land.”
The court pointed out that the developer had received incentives for slum rehabilitation and built Towers A and B by 2014, leaving the scheme incomplete for over 25 years. Justice Marne stated that the developer had also built an unplanned fourth tower, Imperial Edge, while concealing plans for a third sanctioned tower.
The bench remarked that the developer now appeared to be “finding it difficult to consume the entire sanctioned sale component” and had proposed a fifth building, Town House, along with additional flats within the existing towers. The plaintiffs, represented by senior advocates Pravin Samdani, Prateek Seksaria, and Simil Purohit, argued that these actions violated the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats (MOFA) Act, 1963.
Rejecting the developer’s defence that MOFA did not apply, Justice Marne held that the plaintiffs had established a “strong prima facie case” and restrained construction of Tower C or any attachment of Town House to Towers A and B, citing that flat owners would otherwise “suffer irreparable loss.”
Source: The Indian Express
