Kanjurmarg land: Relief for Maharashtra as HC quashes consent decree obtained by Adarsh Water Parks

Justice Menon, however, clarified that it has not ascertained claims by the Centre, state, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other parties, and each of them has the right to adopt appropriate proceedings for their claims.

“This is getting murkier and murkier…The court (in October, 2020) was deprived of the benefit of any further enquiry except statements made by advocates appearing for the parties. Given obvious difficulties of virtual hearing during the pandemic, the court accepted that the matter was settled between them. There was a larger responsibility cast on advocates to disclose all facts,” the bench held.

“The court was not apprised of facts. Suppression of all these facts has led the court to pass a decree. Thus, undeniably a fraud was made by virtue of consent terms. In these circumstances, I am not in position to accept submissions by the respondents that this court is powerless. Consent decree is a product of fraud. There is more than meets the eye. I have no doubt in mind that fraud was played on the court itself,” it added.

The judge went on to note, “The opposition to the plea by the private firm was merely that there was no fraud. I must disagree. The manner in which the facts were suppressed and the fact that the ex-directors of the firm signed consent terms, it smacks of suppression of true facts and no attempt was made to make the government party to the case.”

The state government, in its interim application filed in March this year, had claimed that over 1,800 acres of the disputed land belonged to it and the private firm did not have any right over it, adding the October 2010, order was “fraudulently” obtained by the private firm from another bench of HC, in its suit filed in 2006. The application stated that the firm deliberately did not make the state government a party to the suit.

On October 28, 2020, the private firm had obtained an order from HC bench of Justice B P Colabawalla in its suit filed in 2006 against a few persons. The firm had sought specific performance or compliance of an agreement of August 2005, as per which, it claimed, that it was granted development rights of the entire Kanjur village. The judge, while disposing of the suit, had noted that the parties in the case had reached a settlement and accepted the consent terms.

After it came to know about the consent decree, the state government, through advocate Himanshu Takke, in March this year filed an interim application in suit against Adarsh Water Parks, challenging the acceptance of consent terms pertaining to land parcels belonging to it.

The state had claimed that over 1,800 acres of the disputed land belonged to it and Adarsh Water Parks did not have any right to it.

The BMC, in a recent affidavit filed in support of the state’s plea, has stated that it has in its possession certain land parcels in Kanjurmarg, including 118.41 hectares for Kanjurmarg dumping ground for solid waste, and the Adarsh Water Parks cannot stake claim over it.

The Union Government’s salt commissioner and defence estates office had filed affidavits before the HC claiming their ownership over 1,600 and 220 acre in Kanjurmarg, respectively, including the 102 acre designated by the Maharashtra government for a Metro car shed.

The Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, soon after coming to power in 2019, had scrapped the proposed Metro car shed at Aarey and sought the 102-acre of salt pan land in Kanjurmarg to build the shed and an interchange station for three metro lines.

In a setback to the state government on December 16, 2020, the High Court, while hearing the central government’s plea through its salt commissioner laying claim to the land, stayed the order of the collector which transferred 102-acre plot of Kanjurmarg salt pan land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The stay was extended from time to time.