MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed two petitions challenging the legal validity of a regulation under the Development Control and Promotion Regulations 2034 (DCPR) under which the Bhendi Bazar cluster development scheme was executed by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT).
The petitioners were the minority opposed to the cluster scheme and former residents of the Lucky building that was already demolished in the course of the redevelopment project. The petitioners argued that under the MRTP Act, land could be acquired only for the planning authority and not for a developer like SBUT. They emphasised that the concept of the cluster development scheme was not envisaged in the MRTP Act and yet, under the subordinate legislation of DCPR, substantive rights had been created for SBUT and the scheme was being foisted on the petitioners. an overwhelming majority of residents had supported it While the petitioners were opposed to the scheme. “It is settled law that private interest must give way to larger public interest and public good. In any case, it is not as if the property of the petitioners has been taken away without compensation,” the court observed.
They had argued that since the land on which the Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment is being carried out was not designated or reserved in the development plan for a “public purpose”, its acquisition was beyond the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP). They said the project was being carried out by SBUT, a private entity, and thus, no “public purpose” was being served.
