Mumbai: Coming down heavily on the BMC, the Bombay High Court (HC) recently initiated suo moto contempt against two flat owners for illegal alterations, reported LiveLaw. The duo reportedly razed the walls of their houses along with a flat, whose owner has died, without getting a nod from the BMC. The HC observed that the civic body failed to restore the flats to their original position even after the housing society took legal recourse and the court permitted the BMC to take action.
“This is yet another case of the BMC's failure to perform with statutory obligations, namely execute its own orders, restoring the subject flats in their original state,” said the division bench of Justice Kamal Khata and Justice A S Gadkari. Consequently, law-abiding citizens are being compelled to come to court. Appallingly, the BMC has failed to even comply with the court orders, the bench added.
Bombay HC Slams Flat Owners
It also slammed the flat owners, observing, “A law-abiding citizen is expected to submit the proposed alteration plans and take structural stability reports before carrying out structural alterations, even assuming he was a legal owner of both flats.”
The housing society had complained to the BMC that two of its members adjoined their flat with another dwelling, which belonged to a deceased member. They complained that demolishing the dividing walls of the flats endangered the structural stability of the building. The HC noted that the society had approached the city civil court, which had appointed a commissioner to inspect the site.
The official report confirmed that the duo had razed the walls of the two flats. Following this, the BMC merely issued a notice to the duo, said the HC, adding that the act of the flat owners endangered the lives of the society members.
