Bombay HC terms 1,000-acre land as forest

March 26, 2008	(Be the first to rate this story!)  Loading ...
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The court upholds notices issued by state government in 1956-57 whereby huge tracts of land was declared private forests and subsequently vested with the government Hundreds of residents and leading builders in Mumbai’s eastern and western suburbs may be adversely affected as the Bombay High Court has announced that developments on more than 1,000 acres of land in the region is illegal and falls on the declared forest land.

Dismissing some 19 petitions filed mainly by realty developers, Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari upheld the notices issued by the state government in 1956-57 whereby huge tracts of land was declared to be private forests and subsequently vested with the government. In the year 2006, the Maharashtra Government had taken back nearly 1,000 acres of land in Borivali, Kandivali, Mulund, Thane and Ghatkopar, claiming that it belonged to the state forest department.

According to reports, the Bombay High Court’s decision will pave the way for the state government to proceed with acquisition of the land under the Maharashtra Private Forests Acquisition of Land Act, 1975. The petitioners had challenged the state government’s move to change the status of their lands from non-forest to ‘private forests’ stating that the notices issued in 1956-57 had lapsed.

However, dismissing their contention as an argument of desperation the High Court held that just because the petitioners have invested crores of rupees in these lands does not mean the state government cannot proceed by treating these lands as private forests. Though the petitioners, who include among others Oberoi Constructions, Runwal Group, Lodha Group, Nirmal Lifestyle, Nirmal Developers and Godrej, have not sought a stay on the order they are likely to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the state government has ruled out any immediate demolitions. According to rough estimates, more than one lakh flats will be affected by the Bombay High Court’s decision. Market sources have pegged the value of these properties at around Rs250bn. Both, existing properties and ongoing real estate projects are likely to be impacted by the court ruling.

In 2002, the Bombay Environmental Action Group, an NGO, had moved the Bombay High Court to protect forest lands encroached by the builders. In 2006, the state government issued notices to developers. The court had set May 31, 2006 as the deadline for the state to carry out the land mutation process and finalize its classification.

A clutch of developers moved the court, stating that in their town plans, municipal corporations in Mumbai and Thane had shown the developments as either residential or commercial.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India, Mumbai |

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