The Bombay High Court said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s decision to keep a fire engine inside a public park in South Mumbai was “completely illegal.”
A bench of justices A S Oka and P N Deshmukh dismissed the civic body’s argument that it was the original owner of the said land and hence could use it for any suitable purpose.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Malabar Hill Citizens Forum (MHCF) against the BMC’s decision to station a fire engine inside the sprawling Priyadarshini Park in Malabar Hill by erecting a shed.
Residents had told the high court that several trees had been damaged and the park’s entrance was demolished to make way for the fire engine and the parking shed. They had also said the gates of the park had to be kept open even at night now for the free movement of the fire engine.
The BMC, on its part, had argued that the fire engine occupied only a 10-square metre area in the park, which was spread over a 6,000 square metre area, and that it was stationed there for residents’ safety.
The civic body had argued that the park had been leased to the citizens’ forum for use and maintenance and that, as per the original development plan, some area inside the park was reserved in 1987 for the construction of a fire station.
On June 5, 2017, the high court had dismissed a PIL filed in 2006 by the MHCF for want of prosecution and subsequently restored it on June 19.
In the meanwhile, between June 5 and June 19 that year, the BMC parked a fire engine on a portion of the park.
While it subsequently removed the fire engine and demolished the temporary shed, it continued arguing in court that the fire engine was for the citizens’ safety and thus, it be permitted to keep the same inside Priyadarshini Park.
The bench, however, dismissed BMC’s argument and said: “The Corporation’s previous decision to encroach upon a public park was completely illegal and showed high-handedness.
