Tata housing gets Parel mill land

Tata Housing Development Company will get possession of a large area of land in the heart of Mumbai which has been in possession of the defunct National Textiles Corporation-run Tata Mills at Parel.

Allowing the law suit filed by the company, the court directed Tata Mills to hand over the possession of the land by December 31, 2013.

A bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan upheld the Bombay high court judgment, saying that it is evident that Tata Mills is neither the government nor its department.

It can’t identify itself with the Central government, the court said while rejecting the plea by Tata Mills that it is merely an agent of the Union government.

Judges said his contention couldn’t be accepted because the rights vested in the NTC- managed mill stood crystallised after being transferred by the Centre.   

It is being controlled by the provisions of an enactment in 1995 and not by the Central government.

Refusing to allow Tata Mills and other such mills in Mumbai which are facing litigation over possession of a high-priced land used after the mills are shut down, the court said: “We reach the inescapable conclusion that the mill is not entitled for exemption from eviction nor can it claim the status of an agent of the Union government.”

Analysts, who are well versed with the housing market in a space-crunched Mumbai, said: “The judgment is a boost for those land owners who have housing projects in hand.”