The Bombay High Court asked the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation to make its stand clear on what it proposes to do with the six empty plots owned by CIDCO, and noted that if NMMC wants to keep the property, it needs to either purchase it or vacate.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Pravin Upadhyay seeking action against the NMMC for allegedly encroaching upon the plots and developing them into a public garden without purchasing the land from the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).
According to the petition, the garden has a compound wall and only the Mayor’s bungalow on Parsik Hill in Navi Mumbai has access to the garden.
“The civic body is supposed to keep a check on illegal encroachments. In the absence of any allotment by CIDCO, the corporation has no authority to convert the plot into a garden,” the court said.
NMMC had sought these plots to be allotted to them after dereserving them from residential to public garden, but the CIDCO had rejected the request.
The Corporation informed the court that handing over plots like this would affect its financial stability and they need to be purchased.
The court directed the civic body to file an affidavit within two weeks making it clear what it proposes to do with the plots.
“If you want to keep the land, then purchase it from CIDCO or else vacate,” the chief justice said.
