HC order against builder gets thumbs up from greens…..Aakriti Vasudeva
In a judgment that is being hailed as a first-of-its-kind by environmentalists, the Bombay High Court ruled against a builder who was charged for removal of construction debris around the Dahisar mangroves by the Mumbai Suburban District Collectors office.
Builder Jayesh Shah had challenged the recovery of approximately Rs 1.3 crore from him by the Mumbai Suburban District Collectors office towards removal of substantial debris, grit and boulders dumped at the site. However, on November 30, the Division Bench of Justice PB Majmudar and Justice Mridula Bhatkar dismissed the petition.
Shahs lawyer Rajiv Narula argued that since Shah is not the original owner of the land, and has acted based on the power of attorney given to him by the owners, any amount required to be recovered must be done from the original owners. The land is owned by Krishnadevi Kamathai and eight others. Narula also told the court that the District Collector had acted in a high-handed manner for recovery of the amount and may be directed to repay the said amount to Shah.
However, government pleader DA Nalawade argued that Shah, on the basis of the power of attorney, had entered into possession of the land and tried to develop it. Also, before the amount was recovered from Shah, the District Collector held various meetings with him regarding the matter. Since Shah was not ready to budge, the District Collector gave a private contractor the work of removing the debris in accordance with the Supreme Court order, said Nalawade.
Justice Majmudar and Justice Bhatkar dismissed the petition saying since the amount has already been recovered….and since the petitioner has participated in proceedings before the Collector, as various meetings were held, the prayer of the petitioner is not required to be entertained.
In 2009, residents of Dahisar alleged that Shah had damaged several acres of a 430-acre mangrove area adjoining Gorai creek. They told the Supreme Court that Shah had tried to increase the height of the bund clearly suggesting that he wanted to construct on the land. On January 31 this year, the SC ordered Shah to stop construction, open the bunds constructed to restrict the natural flow of sea water into the mangroves within a week and also remove the debris due to construction in two months. The court also allowed the District Collector to go ahead with the removal of the debris, if Shah defaults and recover the cost from him.
Reacting to the High Court order, environmentalist and one of the original petitioners in the SC case, Debi Goenka said, This is a first-of-its-kind judgment. In such cases, builders get away with paltry fines. Now, we will ask the District Collector to ensure that the work of breaking down the rest of the bund and removal of remaining debris, which was stopped during the monsoon, is restarted and completed.