Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has termed as "bizarre" the Maharashtra government's slum policy under which encroachers are given free houses and expressed regret that an international city like Mumbai is known for its slums. Is.
In a judgment passed on Tuesday, a division bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Jitendra Jain said that the state policy has resulted in a large amount of land going out of the "state pool".
It also called for "deep introspection of such government policies keeping in mind the plight of the future generation who will suffer the ill effects of this situation". The court said that once slums on private land are recognized under the Slum Act, The strange thing is that encroachment on private land turns into a legitimate right to a free house for the encroacher under the slum policy of the State Government, which in our opinion is. , is equivalent to a premium on the illegality of the trespasser in encroaching on private or public land.The court said that government officials need to be conscious of the ground reality that removing encroachers from both private and public land is a difficult task.
The court said this is a reminder of the "sad realities" in which prime public land in Mumbai has disappeared from the public pool and is subject to private development by developers under the guise of slum redevelopment. It said, if the official machinery is in accordance with the law If we had worked, today we would not have faced the situation of an international city like Mumbai, which is also known for slums on private and public land.
The court held that the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has an onerous obligation to deal appropriately, non-arbitrarily and objectively with the valuable property rights of private citizens who are dragged into a situation where encroaching monsters and The individuals supporting them take the rules. The law is in their hands to deprive the land owner of his property rights.“They forget that there is rule of law and there are courts and any attempt to harm the rule of law can be dealt with sternly. We can also add that if the official machinery were to work in accordance with the law, So would we have done today. The situation is not faced by an international city like Mumbai, which is also known for slums on private and public land," the bench said in the order issued by the SRA CEO to the Mount Mary Church Trust. Canceled the October 2021 notice, which sought to acquire part of the land owned by it in suburban Bandra for a slum redevelopment project.
“In our opinion, the acquisition in the present case is completely inappropriate.The SRA's decision, taken as hastily as it is, is clearly illegal," it said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Bishop John Rodrigues, sole trustee and rector of Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount Mary Road in Bandra, challenging the SRA notice seeking acquisition of 1596 square meters of land for a slum redevelopment project. According to the petition, the trust owns 9,371 square meters of land in Bandra, Mumbai, of which there are 35 slum structures on 1,596 square meters of land.
The court, in its order, said that slum dwellers have the right only to permanent alternative housing under the statutory scheme and policies of the state.
“Slum dwellers cannot have the vision that they become owners of land and claim rights to the detriment of the actual owners of the land.In our opinion, nor are slum dwellers recognized with any such ownership rights over land. Nor can such rights be so inferred by the Slum Act," it said. The court said, "Unfortunately, it is the policy of the State which has actually encouraged encroachment on all categories of land and has resulted in huge government The land has been taken out of the 'state pool' and equally private land has gone completely back to its owners."
It said that such a situation is completely unacceptable when the rights of every person/individual are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws.
The bench said that keeping in mind the plight of the future generation, there is a need for deep introspection on such government policies which will bear the ill effects of the situation prevailing even today."The time has come to consider future rights on such aspects. We are conscious of the needs of large cities, which require large amounts of migrant workforce and recognize the housing needs of such workforce. However , This could not happen. This means that valuable land, whether public or private, can be taken away merely because such land is allowed to be encroached upon for a long time, thereby violating the principles of the law on property rights. Is the primary observance of.
The bench said that the SRA and other authorities need to be conscious of the ground reality that removing any encroachment on private and public land in Mumbai is a difficult task.It is equally difficult for a private owner of land to protect his land and prevent encroachment, the HC said. "This is a sad story, because encroachment is not done by encroachers who merely occupy the land, but they Always gets support from slum dwellers, criminals, social workers, politicians (because the capturers will be vote bank)."
In a judgment passed on Tuesday, a division bench of Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Jitendra Jain said that the state policy has resulted in a large amount of land going out of the "state pool".
It also called for "deep introspection of such government policies keeping in mind the plight of the future generation who will suffer the ill effects of this situation". The court said that once slums on private land are recognized under the Slum Act, The strange thing is that encroachment on private land turns into a legitimate right to a free house for the encroacher under the slum policy of the State Government, which in our opinion is. , is equivalent to a premium on the illegality of the trespasser in encroaching on private or public land.The court said that government officials need to be conscious of the ground reality that removing encroachers from both private and public land is a difficult task.
The court said this is a reminder of the "sad realities" in which prime public land in Mumbai has disappeared from the public pool and is subject to private development by developers under the guise of slum redevelopment. It said, if the official machinery is in accordance with the law If we had worked, today we would not have faced the situation of an international city like Mumbai, which is also known for slums on private and public land.
The court held that the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has an onerous obligation to deal appropriately, non-arbitrarily and objectively with the valuable property rights of private citizens who are dragged into a situation where encroaching monsters and The individuals supporting them take the rules. The law is in their hands to deprive the land owner of his property rights.“They forget that there is rule of law and there are courts and any attempt to harm the rule of law can be dealt with sternly. We can also add that if the official machinery were to work in accordance with the law, So would we have done today. The situation is not faced by an international city like Mumbai, which is also known for slums on private and public land," the bench said in the order issued by the SRA CEO to the Mount Mary Church Trust. Canceled the October 2021 notice, which sought to acquire part of the land owned by it in suburban Bandra for a slum redevelopment project.
“In our opinion, the acquisition in the present case is completely inappropriate.The SRA's decision, taken as hastily as it is, is clearly illegal," it said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Bishop John Rodrigues, sole trustee and rector of Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount Mary Road in Bandra, challenging the SRA notice seeking acquisition of 1596 square meters of land for a slum redevelopment project. According to the petition, the trust owns 9,371 square meters of land in Bandra, Mumbai, of which there are 35 slum structures on 1,596 square meters of land.
The court, in its order, said that slum dwellers have the right only to permanent alternative housing under the statutory scheme and policies of the state.
“Slum dwellers cannot have the vision that they become owners of land and claim rights to the detriment of the actual owners of the land.In our opinion, nor are slum dwellers recognized with any such ownership rights over land. Nor can such rights be so inferred by the Slum Act," it said. The court said, "Unfortunately, it is the policy of the State which has actually encouraged encroachment on all categories of land and has resulted in huge government The land has been taken out of the 'state pool' and equally private land has gone completely back to its owners."
It said that such a situation is completely unacceptable when the rights of every person/individual are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws.
The bench said that keeping in mind the plight of the future generation, there is a need for deep introspection on such government policies which will bear the ill effects of the situation prevailing even today."The time has come to consider future rights on such aspects. We are conscious of the needs of large cities, which require large amounts of migrant workforce and recognize the housing needs of such workforce. However , This could not happen. This means that valuable land, whether public or private, can be taken away merely because such land is allowed to be encroached upon for a long time, thereby violating the principles of the law on property rights. Is the primary observance of.
The bench said that the SRA and other authorities need to be conscious of the ground reality that removing any encroachment on private and public land in Mumbai is a difficult task.It is equally difficult for a private owner of land to protect his land and prevent encroachment, the HC said. "This is a sad story, because encroachment is not done by encroachers who merely occupy the land, but they Always gets support from slum dwellers, criminals, social workers, politicians (because the capturers will be vote bank)."
