The Bombay High Court has sharply criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for their role in the prolonged delay of issuing Occupation Certificates (OC) to tenants of redeveloped properties in Mahim (West).
The court’s rebuke follows the failure of both agencies to take responsibility for the 25-year-long delay in providing essential documentation for the redevelopment project. A division bench comprising Justices Mahesh S. Sonak and Kamal R. Khata directed the CEO of MHADA and the BMC to thoroughly investigate the actions of their officers, who have reportedly contributed to significant public financial losses. The court’s order underscores a systemic failure to hold the developer accountable for not meeting the agreed conditions for redevelopment.
The bench mandated that MHADA issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the petitioners by August 30, 2024, and that the BMC grant the OC by September 20, 2024. The court emphasised that the BMC, as a public authority, bears joint responsibility for ensuring that buildings do not operate without proper OCs. The case concerns a plot in Mahim redeveloped by a Construction Company Pvt Ltd in 1986. The redevelopment involved three chawls, nine shops, and nine residential units originally constructed in 1946.
The tenants had vacated their properties under the agreement that their new shops would be part of the redeveloped front wing, while the rear wing would house residential units and saleable flats. Despite the tenants receiving their redeveloped shops, the failure of the developer to secure the OC led to the BMC withholding essential services such as water and sewerage while imposing a 150 per cent increase in property taxes. The BMC attributed the delay in issuing the OC to MHADA’s failure to provide the final NOC. Since February 1999, there has been ongoing correspondence between the tenants, BMC, and MHADA regarding the issue. The developer’s failure to surrender 1,986 square feet of Floor Space Index (FSI) to MHADA resulted in additional tax penalties.
The matter was exacerbated when the front wing of the property was auctioned in January 2000, leading tenants to seek judicial intervention. The court has ordered MHADA to secure the surrender area or its market value from the developer and has instructed BMC to reconcile and refund any surplus municipal taxes paid by the tenants. The court expressed dismay at the unjust burden placed on tenants for services that were not rendered and emphasised the need for accountability and fair treatment.
