The case will come up for final hearing after one-and-a-half years before a division Bench comprising Justices FI Rebeillo and VK Tahilramani.
‘Land mafia’ trying to derail case: Petitioners.
The Bombay High Court will hear on Wednesday a writ petition filed by several citizens of Mumbai, led by ex-MLC Sadanand Varde, challenging the constitutional validity of the issue of amendments by the state government to the Development Control Regulations (DCR), 1991, U/s 37 of the Mumbai Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP), 1966. The case will come up for final hearing after one-and-a-half years before a division Bench comprising Justices FI Rebeillo and VK Tahilramani.
Barrister GG Kalsekar, the petitioner’s counsel, said, ‘’Since January 2005, for some unexplained reasons and most certainly under pressure from the ‘land mafia’ and other vested interests, the final hearing of the above petition has been consistently delayed in the high court.’’ On the contrary, the petition filed by Bhagwanji Rayani of the Janhit Manch in June last year, six months after this petition, was being regularly heard and is due for orders, he said.
The petitioners contend that under Section 37 (it prescribes the procedure for minor modifications to the sanctioned Development Plan) of the MRTP Act, the Maharashtra government has issued a series of instructions amending the DCR to allow the indiscriminate use of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), and additional Floor Space Index (FSI) to particular builders and the ‘land Mafia’ in Mumbai.
Barrister Kalsekar alleges that the modifications to the DCR regarding transfer of TDR and FSI are so wide ranging that without augmenting essential services like water, power supply, drainage and transport facilities and shrinking the open spaces for ventilation, light and open recreation grounds, which are the lungs of the city, they are completely changing the character and nature of the development plan for the city.
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