HC reserves order on Atria Mall

The Bombay High Court on Thursday reserved its order in a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the legality of Worli’s spanking new Atria Mall, which has allegedly been constructed on land reserved for housing dishoused people and a municipal school.

The mall, which boasts of housing the country’s first Rolls Royce showroom and other international brands like Mont Blanc, Sony World and Guess, has only recently been thrown open. The PIL filed by social activist Medha Patkar alleges that the construction of the mall is in violation of development control rules. The mall has come up in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and has been allowed a floor space index (FSI) of 2 against the norm of 1.33, lawyer YP Singh said. He alleged that area of the school, which has been redeveloped, has been reduced and that the structure has been pushed near a drain.

Senior Counsel Rafique Dada, representing the developer, denied the petitioner’s allegations saying that all requisite permissions were in place for the mall. It said the developer handed over the mandatory 10 per cent built-up area at a nominal price to BMC, which owns the plot.

The BMC has pledged the Rs 80-crore received from the developer for rehabilitation projects. “If not for this petition, Rs 80 crore would have gone to the BMC general budget and not been used for the rehabilitating project-affected persons,” Chief Justice K Vyas and Justice DY Chandrachud noted.