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2025(6)CPMH68
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

(Hon'ble A S Gadkari, J.)
Writ Petition No. 1612 of 2024 dated 20/06/2025
Om Vishwashanti Chs (Proposed); Okhawala Shelter, Builders & Developers

... Appellant

Versus
Mumbai Municipal Corporation; Executive Engineer (D P ); Slum Rehabilitation Authority; Additional Municipal Commissioner Bmc Western Suburbs; Assistant Municipal Commissioner

... Respondent

Developer Termination - Petition filed under Article 226 seeking quashing of order terminating developer and direction to approve building proposal submitted by petitioner - Order challenged found well-reasoned and without bias after due hearing of parties - Court enquired into maintainability of petition and found no legal right under Article 14 for slum society or developer - Issues raised found to be private in nature involving planning and design not within scope of writ jurisdiction - Selection of developer held prerogative of Municipal Corporation in consultation with Slum Rehabilitation Authority - Petition found to be attempt by developer to continue appointment through cover of slum dwellers - Petition treated as abuse of process to avoid civil remedy - No justification found to interfere with decision of authorities - Petition Dismissed

Law Point : Disputes involving planning design and appointment of developer in slum rehabilitation are matters of administrative discretion and not amenable to writ jurisdiction unless violation of legal or constitutional rights is shown

Counsel :
Yash Tiwari, Dr Milind Sathe (Senior Advocate), Joel Carlos, S V Tondwalkar, Komal Punjabi, Jagdish G Aradwad (Reddy), Rohan Kharat

JUDGEMENT

Kamal Khata, J.

[1] By this Petition under Article 226 of Constitution of India, the Petitioners seek the following prayers:

"(b) That by a writ of mandamus, writ in the nature of mandamus or any other writ, order and direction, the Order dated 10th January 2024 passed by the Respondent No. 4, copy of which is at Exhibit 'Q' to this petition may kindly be quashed and set aside and by the same order the Respondent Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 may kindly be directed to sanction the building proposal submitted by the Petitioners on 8th January 2024 and permit the petitioners to commence and complete the construction of the building in accordance with that proposal.

(c) By a suitable order interim effect, operation and implementation of the Order dated 10 January 2024, copy of which is at Exhibit 'Q' to the petition may be kindly stayed during the pendency of this petition.

[2] We heard Mr. Yash Tiwari, learned Advocate for the Petitioners, Dr. Milind Sathe, learned senior counsel for the Respondent Nos.1, 2, 4 and 5-BMC and Mr. Jagdish Aradwad Advocate for the Respondent No.3-Slum Rehabilitation Authority ('SRA') and perused the papers.

[3] A bare perusal of the Order dated 10th January 2024 demonstrates that it is well-structured and reasoned and does not exhibit any bias or perversity. The Respondents have followed the due process of hearing the parties and thereafter has terminated the developer i.e. Respondent No.2.

[4] Upon hearing Mr. Tiwari and perusing the Petition, we enquired how the Petition was maintainable. The learned Advocate was unable to demonstrate any right that the slum society or, worse still, even the Petitioner No.2-developer possessed under Article 14 of the Constitution of India to file the Petition.

[5] Having examined the papers on record, we find that the grounds raised would require detailed examination of the parties' claims which are essentially in the nature of a private dispute. The disputed issues concerning the planning and design of the building, specifically how the building should or should not be structured, are not the issues to be decided within the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. Such matters squarely fall within the realm of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Likewise, the developer's contentions regarding deviations in the plans due to the floor plate or the size of the plot cannot be adjudicated by this Court.

5.1) Furthermore, the slum society has no right to select or determine the developer, which is a prerogative of the BMC in consultation with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA).

[6] It would be appropriate to observe that, the slum colonies are creations of slumlords and a direct result of the State's inaction through its Municipal Corporation and the police, who bear principal responsibility for their removal as stated by the Single Bench of this Court in Reverend Father, Peter Paul Fernandes, Parish Priest and Sole Trustee of the Church of St. Francis Xavier vs. State of Maharashtra, 1991 AIR(Bom) 445, Abdul Majid Vakil Ahmad Patvekari vs. Slum Rehabilitation Authority,2021 SCCOnLineBom 13719, Abdul Aziz vs. AGRC,2024 SCCOnLineBom 744 and Bishop John Rodrigues vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors,2024 SCCOnLineBom 1632.

[7] Would we be justified in granting this Petition and permitting these squatters or slum dwellers, who are ex facie illegal occupants and who have no lawful entitlement to the land in the first place, to dictate the choice of their developer and impose terms on the State? The answer is an emphatic negative.

[8] We therefore find that, this Petition is a guise filed by the developer himself under the cover of the slum dwellers designed solely to continue his appointment. It is evident that, this is in essence a private dispute. The real motive behind filing this Writ Petition is to circumvent the appropriate legal remedy of filing a civil suit for termination of the contract, which is a private dispute at its core.

[9] We find no justification to interfere with the decision of the Respondents. Accordingly, the Petition is dismissed

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