Withdraw collector’s order allotting Kanjurmarg land for Mumbai Metro car shed, then proceed by law,… – Hindustan Times

The Bombay high court (HC) on Monday asked the state government to consider withdrawing October 1, 2020, order of the Mumbai suburban district collector, allotting 102 acres of salt pan land at Kanjurmarg for construction of an integrated Metro car shed.

“We can’t allow this order to remain in force,” said the bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni. “Prima facie, we are of the view that the matter should go back to the collector. It’s better you settle these issues before you proceed further (with the construction of the proposed Metro car shed at Kanjurmarg),” the bench added.

Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni responded to the suggestion, saying he will take instructions and inform the government’s response, to the court suggestion on Wednesday.

The bench also delineated further possible course of action, saying either the collector withdraws the order or the bench will set it aside on the ground of procedural infirmities. Then, the court said, the collector will be free to proceed in accordance with law and status quo, as on the date of withdrawal or striking down will be maintained in the meantime.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the central government seeking a stay on the metro car shed work at Kanjurmarg. Staking claim over the salt pan lands, the central government has moved HC challenging October 1, 2020 order of the collector, allotting 102 acres out of Survey No 275 (part) to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

On October 6, the collector transferred possession of the salt pan land to MMRDA and two days later the authority, in turn, handed it over to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited, which is constructing the Metro car shed.

Centre has claimed that the entire salt pan lands in the belt, including the 102 acres at Kanjurmarg, belong to its salt department and has always been under the administrative control of the deputy salt commissioner.

By a separate petition Centre has also challenged November 1, 2018, the order of the Maharashtra revenue minister, upholding addition of names of the state government and some private parties in ownership column of several salt pan lands at Nahur, Mulund, Kanjurmarg, Mandale, Malvani and Pahadi areas of Mumbai.

The court on Monday also heard a petition filed by one Maheshkumar Garodia, who too has challenged the Collector’s order and subsequent transfer of possession of the salt pan land for the Metro car shed.

HC’s suggestion came after senior advocate Shyam Mehta, who represented Garodia, pointed out that Garodia, a legal representative of the erstwhile salt manufacturer had a beneficial interest in a vast tract of salt pan land, including the 102 acres plot, and he has filed a suit concerning the entire land leased to his predecessors and interim orders are granted in his favour, first by HC, which are subsequently confirmed by Bombay city civil court, after the suit was transferred there.

Mehta pointed out to the bench that the Collector was aware of the fact that Garodia was in possession of the land, that the suit was pending, that there was an interim injunction in his favour, but no notice was issued to him before transferring the land to MMRDA and handing over its possession for construction of the metro car shed.

Mehta submitted that till January 2020 the technical advisory committee of the state government maintained that Kanjurmarg was not viable for construction of the metro car shed. Therefore, they changed the reservation of the land at Aarey Colony and spent over Rs. 200 crores for preparations at Aarey Colony. And now they are claiming that the Kanjurmarg land is most suitable for the project.

HC found force in Mehta’s complaint that the October 1 order does not even refer to the petitioner and the court proceeding. “The order itself shows that the Collector is aware of the pending suit, but he just turns a blind eye towards the court proceedings,” said the bench. “Is this a proper exercise of power,” the judges asked and opined that the order could not be allowed to continue.

The salt pan land at Kanjurmarg has become a bone of serious contention between the Maharashtra government and the Centre. Earlier, Devendra Fadnavis of BJP had decided to construct the car shed for Mumbai Metro line 3 at Aarey Colony, despite steep opposition to vast tree cutting required for the car shed.

After Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress combine government came in power in Maharashtra, it responded positively to cry of environmentalists and shifted the metro car shed to Kanjurmarg – a location which the Fadnavis government had specifically rejected.

Uddhav Thackeray led government has now decided to construct an integrated metro car shed at Kanjur Marg for metro line 3, 4, 4A and 6, instead of constructing #separate car sheds for these lines individually.

Senior advocate Milind Sathe and advocate Saket Mone, who represented the project proponent MMRDA, on Monday highlighted financial benefits of constructing the integrated car shed. They said MMRDA will have to spend an additional amount of ₹2,328 crore on land acquisition and ₹1,600 crore as operational costs, if the integrated car shed at Kanjur Marg was stayed by HC.

They added that there will be loss of ₹2.5 to ₹3 crore per day if the court stayed the ongoing work of Metro car shed at Kanjurmarg.