The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday questioned the Maharashtra government’s claim of ownership over 102 acres of land at Kanjurmarg being used for the construction of a Metro car depot. The plot has also become a serious bone of contention between the state and the Central government.
“In so many documents, the state government has admitted the Central government’s ownership of the land…MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) has admitted that the land belongs to the Central government,” said the bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni.
The bench was referring to the December 2019 letter written by the additional chief secretary (ACS) of the urban development department (UDD) to the ministry of commerce, requesting the Central government to handover possession of the Kanjurmarg land to MMRDA.
“The additional chief secretary has acknowledged the position that the land belongs to the Central government,” said the bench. “And, this is as late as December 4, 2019.”
HC also referred to MMRDA’s admission that the land belonged to the Central government and had even offered to pay the market price for the 102-acre plot.
In this backdrop, HC asked advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni for the state government’s explanation to the admissions.
Kumbhakoni responded saying that the ACS, UDD is not an official of the revenue department and does not know about the title of the land. Mere admission by a party does not confer the title of the land on some other person, he said, citing Supreme Court rulings in support of his contention.
The advocate general said if the Central government is claiming ownership of the salt pan land, they will have to make out a proper case. “Admittedly, this land [102 acres at Kanjurmarg] was not part of any disputes or litigations, and therefore, any reference or admission of ownership by the Central government is irrelevant,” he added.
Answering the court’s query about possession of the land, Kumbhakoni claimed there was absolutely no documentary evidence to show that the Central government was ever in possession of the land in issue. He said there was no mention of any activity undertaken by the Centre on this land nor did they raise any objection when part of the property was reserved for various public purposes under the 1967 development plan for the city.
“The principle is that possession follows the title,” Kumbhakoni pointed out. “There is no record to show actual possession of the salt department,” he added.
He further claimed that the Centre was claiming ownership over the salt pan land by virtue of three notifications issued in 1906, 1917 and 1920, for the acquisition of huge tracts of land in the belt for salt manufacturing. However, only one of them culminated in an award – for acquiring only 11 acres, and no award was passed in two other notifications – resulting in Lansing of the proceedings.
Kumbhakoni was responding to a petition filed by the Central government seeking a stay on the Metro car shed work at Kanjurmarg.
On Friday, senior advocate Milind Sathe, who represented MMRDA, urged the court to not stay the ongoing work at the site, claiming that the car depot and its timely completion was very crucial for the entire Metro project.
Sathe pointed out that even the Central government was not averse to giving the land for the Metro car depot and pointed out the reply by the ministry of commerce to the letter written by ACS, UDD merely insisting on a joint survey of the land before it is handed over for the Metro car depot.
HC has now posted the matter for further hearing on Monday.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/bombay-hc-questions-state-claim-over-mumbai-metro-shed-plot/story-MbGzci8wEqaYVxHLn0kA8O.html
