The Supreme Court has ordered a freeze on the November salary of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and directed contempt proceedings against her and other municipal officials over the failure to remove encroachments from government land in Borivali, Mumbai, according to a report by Navbharat Times – Mumbai.
The order came after the civic body sought an additional 30 days to comply with an earlier direction to clear encroachments from land earmarked for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus station. A three-judge bench rejected the BMC’s request and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh, the report said.
The court’s action places the implementation of a public land order at the centre of the dispute. The land in question has been identified for a BEST bus station in Borivali, making the matter relevant to Mumbai’s public transport infrastructure as well as to the enforcement of court directions by the municipal administration.
The salary freeze applies to Bhide’s November pay, while the contempt proceedings extend to her and other BMC officials, according to the report. The supplied report does not identify all the officials named in the proceedings or specify the precise nature and extent of the encroachments.
Bhide, a 1995-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, became BMC commissioner in March 2026. She is the civic body’s first woman commissioner, the report said. Before joining the BMC, she served as managing director of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation and was associated with the completion of Mumbai’s Aqua Line, described in the report as the city’s first underground metro project.
Her earlier role in metro infrastructure has contributed to her public profile as a senior officer associated with major urban projects. The Supreme Court proceedings, however, concern the BMC’s compliance with directions relating to government land and the proposed BEST bus station rather than her previous work on the metro system.
The case highlights the administrative consequences that can follow when civic authorities seek more time to implement court-ordered action. For Mumbai, the immediate issue is whether the Borivali site can be cleared and made available for the transport facility within the legal process now underway.
The Supreme Court has ordered the salary restriction, initiated contempt proceedings and rejected the BMC’s request for an additional 30 days. The next steps will depend on the further proceedings in the contempt matter and the civic body’s compliance with the direction concerning the Borivali land.
