The Supreme Court has withdrawn its show-cause notice against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and lifted restrictions on the payment of monthly salaries to her and her personal staff after the civic administration reported compliance with the court’s earlier directions.
The decision was taken during a hearing on November 4, a day after the three-judge bench had ordered a freeze on the salary payments over alleged non-compliance. The bench, headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, withdrew part of paragraphs 1 to 3 of its November 3 order, setting aside the show-cause notice and salary-related restrictions.
Senior advocate R P Bhat, appearing for the BMC, told the court that the civic administration had taken the necessary steps to comply with directions issued on November 13, 2025, and July 28, 2026. He submitted that the situation relating to contempt of court had been addressed and requested that the November 3 order be withdrawn.
The bench accepted the submission and withdrew the specified portions of its earlier order. However, it clarified that it was not expressing any opinion at this stage on the extent of the BMC’s compliance with the previous directions. This means the court’s latest order removes the immediate salary-related restrictions and show-cause proceedings but does not conclude the wider compliance issue.
The Supreme Court has directed Bhide to file a personal affidavit setting out the steps taken to comply with the court’s directions before the next hearing. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of the November 3 order will continue to remain in force, according to the report.
The court proceedings coincided with enforcement action by the BMC in Borivali East. On November 4, the civic body removed 27 commercial structures from a plot reserved for a bus station on Swami Vivekanand Road. The BMC said in a statement that it had cleared the encroachment from the reserved land.
The action places the court proceedings within a larger municipal enforcement question: how civic authorities protect land earmarked for public infrastructure when it is occupied by commercial structures. A bus station reservation can affect local transport planning and the availability of land for public facilities, although the supplied report does not provide details of the reservation’s area, the structures’ ownership or the next construction steps.
The BMC’s submission and the demolition action were presented as steps taken after the Supreme Court’s earlier directions. The court, however, has retained parts of its November 3 order and required a personal affidavit from the civic commissioner. The next hearing will determine how the court assesses the compliance details placed before it.
