MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) decision to take possession of the Young Men’s Christian Association’s (YMCA) gymnasium and akhada at the Willingdon Ground in Mumbai Central, granting the organisation interim protection from any adverse action.
However, the BMC began the process to take over the structures and said it would be completed on or before August 12 with the help of the police, according to the petition. Aggrieved by this, the YMCA moved the high court through advocate Joel Carlos, claiming that it has been in possession of Willingdon Ground, which houses the gymnasium and the akhada, since March 1928, when the BMC handed over the land to it.
A division bench of justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata passed the order while hearing a petition filed by YMCA, which stated that the civic body had “no powers” to take possession of the structures, as they were constructed by the organisation after the BMC itself had sanctioned the plans and issued an Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) and a Commencement Certificate (CC).
