Pay

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pay ₹5 lakh to a Santacruz resident for demolishing his shop in Kalina in violation of restraining orders from the same court. The civic body must recover the amount from the salaries of three civic officers responsible for the demolition, the court said.
The division bench of justices MS Sonak and Kamal Khata on Wednesday said the three officers – assistant commissioner of H-East ward Alka Sasane, deputy engineer Pravin Pargane and assistant engineer Kartik Gandhi – had “willfully and intentionally disobeyed” the court’s order dated August 2, 2017 and rejected the explanation offered by them as “frivolous”.
The officers had claimed that the demolition was inadvertent in view of multiple rounds of litigation at various levels and the fact that the civic body had strenuously contested the proceedings at all levels. But the shop owner, Gulam Hazrat Abdul Rehman, said the officers had acted at the behest of a developer who was working on a project just behind the shop.
The bench noted that the 75-year-old shop owner was forced to institute multiple legal proceedings in a desperate bid to protect his premises despite the court’s August 2017 order restraining the BMC from demolishing the shop. The structure was demolished a month later, in September 2017.
The court also rapped the police for getting involved in the episode and ignoring the high court order.
“The role of the police is to uphold and protect the rights of the petitioners, rather than to misuse their powers to arrest individuals who have sought redress for alleged illegalities and wrongful actions by BMC officers,” said the court, directing the Mumbai police commissioner to take suitable departmental action against the concerned officers.
The court directed the BMC to pay ₹5 lakh to Rehman within four weeks and file a compliance report by January 6, 2025. It also clarified that Rehman has the right to file appropriate proceedings against the civic officials for claiming damages over and above the ₹5 lakh payment.