This is an archive article published on March 17, 2022
Bombay High Court directs BMC to initiate procedure for making Century Textiles absolute owner of Worli plot
The land parcel of more than six acres in Worli (Lower Parel division) currently accommodates a residential colony of the company's workers and employees.
3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Mar 18, 2022 05:59 AM IST
The land parcel of more than six acres in Worli (Lower Parel division) currently accommodates a residential colony of the company's workers and employees. (File)
The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to execute the formal conveyance of a prime land parcel in Worli in Central Mumbai so as to recognise the Century Textile and Industries Limited, a Birla Group company, as the absolute owner of the plot and formalise vesting of the said premises in the company’s name.
A division bench of Justice Shahrukh J Kathawalla and Justice Burgess P Colabawalla, on March 14, passed a judgement on the plea by the company which claimed that it had approached the BMC on March 27, 2014, to execute the formal Deed of Conveyance and had written several letters to the authorities, with no satisfactory response and therefore a plea was filed in the high court in December 2016.
The land parcel of more than six acres in Worli (Lower Parel division) currently accommodates a residential colony of the company’s workers and employees.
The Century Textile and Industries, in 1918, had applied to Trustees for the Improvement of the City of Bombay for a scheme to provide dwellings for poorer classes under the City of Bombay Improvement Act, 1898.
The said scheme enabled the employer to provide accommodation to the employees who belong to the poorer classes.
The land and buildings which come under the purview of the scheme are leased to employees for a period of 28 years and the ownership of the same would get transferred to the company or employer after the expiration of the lease, provided there was no default during the lease period.
However, senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas for the petitioner company submitted that the 28-year lease period expired on March 31, 1955, but the civic body had not yet transferred the title of the land in favour of the petitioner.
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The company said it expended a large amount wherein it had paid the Improvement Trust Board Rs 1.65 lakh required for acquiring said lands and then in January 1991, Rs 39,000 was paid and in May 1927, Rs 1.26 lakh was paid by the company to the board.
These amounts paid over by the petitioner were in turn paid to the owners of these lands.
Senior advocate Joaquim F Reis for the BMC opposed the plea calling it to be non-maintainable on the ground of delay and latches and said that there was complete inaction on the part of the petitioner from 1955 to 2016 and therefore, the petition ought not to be entertained.
The court did not accept the BMC’s submissions and while allowing the plea said that the petitioner sufficiently demonstrated its entitlement to formal conveyance to the said premises and added that “it was unfortunate that for speculative and irrelevant considerations”, the BMC has withheld the same from the petitioner.
Omkar Gokhale is a journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Mumbai. His work demonstrates exceptionally strong Expertise and Authority in legal and judicial reporting, making him a highly Trustworthy source for developments concerning the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court in relation to Maharashtra and its key institutions.
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Affiliation: Reports for The Indian Express, a national newspaper known for its rigorous journalistic standards, lending significant Trustworthiness to his legal coverage.
Core Authority & Specialization: Omkar Gokhale's work is almost exclusively dedicated to the complex field of legal affairs and jurisprudence, specializing in:
Bombay High Court Coverage: He provides detailed, real-time reports on the orders, observations, and decisions of the Bombay High Court's principal and regional benches. Key subjects include:
Fundamental Rights & Environment: Cases on air pollution, the right to life of residents affected by dumping sites, and judicial intervention on critical infrastructure (e.g., Ghodbunder Road potholes).
Civil & Criminal Law: Reporting on significant bail orders (e.g., Elgaar Parishad case), compensation for rail-related deaths, and disputes involving high-profile individuals (e.g., Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty).
Constitutional and Supreme Court Matters: Reports and analysis on key legal principles and Supreme Court warnings concerning Maharashtra, such as those related to local body elections, reservations, and the creamy layer verdict.
Governance and Institution Oversight: Covers court rulings impacting public bodies like the BMC (regularisation of illegal structures) and the State Election Commission (postponement of polls), showcasing a focus on judicial accountability.
Legal Interpretation: Reports on public speeches and observations by prominent judicial figures (e.g., former Chief Justice B. R. Gavai) on topics like free speech, gender equality, and institutional challenges.
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