Bombay HC order unlocks Cambata Building

Court raps Collector’s office, says claims of ‘high-handedness have some basis’.

Expressing displeasure at the city collector for sealing the Cambata Building near Churchgate station on Wednesday, the Bombay High Court Thursday directed the state government to remove the seal and attachment of the entire building.

Observing that the Eros Cinema management’s contention that the collector’s office had acted in a high-handed manner appears correct, the court said, “What is this manner of forcing people out of the theatre in the middle of a show? Will you also start throwing people out of restaurants? We are of the view that prima facie the submission that the authorities acted arbitrarily and in a high-handed manner seems to have some basis.”

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The building , which houses Eros, had been sealed following litigation in the labour court over a dispute of pending dues. Hearing a petition filed by the landlord of the building — SC Cambata Trust — against the attachment, a bench of Justice Shantanu Khemkar and Justice Prakash Naik Thursday held that while the state had a right to recover its dues, its actions must not force out other tenants or occupants of the building.

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There are 45 tenants in the Cambata Building, including Eros Cinema.

The city collector’s office had passed the order to seal the building to recover labour dues of Rs 4.45 crore from Cambata Aviation Private Limited, the former ground-handlers at the Mumbai airport. After the court’s order Thursday, the collector’s office informed the court that they would start the desealing process by lunch-time.

Two separate pleas had been filed, by the management of Eros Cinema and the Cambata Trust. The latter is the landlord of the building and has sublet the various units and office spaces in the building to Eros, a gymnasium, a restaurant and others.

Eros in its plea argued that it was merely a tenant and had no role to play in the ongoing dispute between Cambata Aviation and its employees.

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It also argued that the collector’s office acted in an “arbitrary and high-handed manner,” adding that the authorities came at a time when a movie show was underway and began forcing members of the audience out. It further said there were absolutely no dues of Cambata Aviation that could be recovered from them.

Cambata Trust, meanwhile, argued that it was not warned of the sealing action in advance.

On January 18, it received phone calls from tenants informing that the Collector and the staff of the state Labour Dues and Recovery department had evicted them and sealed the premises. Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for the Trust, argued that businesses of people had been brought to a standstill due to the action. The bench questioned how the government could seal so many offices in this manner for recovery of dues of Cambata Aviation.

The high court is likely to take up the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

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