MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has freed 36,662.43 square metres (sqm) of land in Thane from reservation under the Development Plan (DP) for a park, police station and mass transit system, saying authorities cannot keep private land under reservation indefinitely without acquiring it or taking the relevant steps within the prescribed timeframe.
The court was hearing a petition filed by M/s Eastern Machinery & Trading Company and M/s Tolani Brothers. “The reservation cannot go on for an indefinite period of time, without completing the reservation process and compensating the land owner. The court clarified that the government cannot, after restricting the use of land, keep it reserved for an indefinite period or compel the owners to accept TDR as compensation.
The two firms had, in 1962, purchased 55,812.67 sqm land in Manpada in Thane West. But in the 1999 DP, 48,963.43 sqm of this land was placed under reservation – 29,525.13 sqm for a park, 2,528 sqm for a police station, 4,608 sqm for High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) and 12,274 sqm for roads, the petition filed by the firms said. It directed removal of the DP reservation on 36,662.43 sqm of the land and ordered the state government to notify lapsing of the reservation.
the land was not acquired, the petitioners told the court Although the state accepted the purchase notice and directed the authorities to complete the acquisition within one year. The property rights of a citizen cannot be altered and adversely affected in such a manner,” the court said.
