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Journalism of Courage
State given 2 days to clarify policy on Shivaji Park
A division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswar and Justice B N Srikrishna on Tuesday gave the state government pleader R V Govilkar two days to clarify the state government8217;s policy on the use of Shivaji Park.
MHADA to refund Chattrapati society Rs 2 crore
The High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority to refund all money paid by the Raja Shiv Chattrapati Co-operative Housing Society Limited since the society8217;s unsanctioned building plan violated the Coastal Regulatory Zone notification.
The refund of over Rs two crore is directed to be paid within four weeks from today, failing which the amount will be topped with a simple interest of 18 per cent. The court, however, clarified that the order applies only to this society and not the other housing societies which may have been similarly aggrieved.
The Chattrapati society comprises 52 members of the high income group. Formed in 1995, the society applied for allotment of a plot under the Rajiv Gandhi Nivara Prakalp. It was alloted a 1,450 square metre plot at Charkop at Kandivali. Thereafter, the society entered into a lease agreement with MHADA. It has so far paid Rs two crore by way of lease premium, registration charges etc. The building plan submitted by the society in 1996 was not passed by the BMC.
In December 1998, BMC informed the society that the plan violated the CRZ II regulations. Later, MHADA issued a release stating that those plotholders, whose plots could now be developed due to CRZ restrictions, will be repaid with interest. However, since the Chattrapati society members did not get the refund, they moved the high court.
Mcdonald8217;s to apply for garden restaurant licence in 2 weeks
Hardcastle Restaurants Ltd, the owners of McDonald8217;s, was today directed by the High Court to apply for an eating house license for its garden restaurant within two weeks. The BMC has been given four weeks to consider the application when submitted.
The orders were given by a division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswar and Justice B N Srikrishna in a petition filed by Hardcastle Restaurants, challenging the refusal of the BMC to grant them the eating house license to be renewed after its expiry in December 1998. With the bench agreeing with the BMC counsel, N V Sanglikar8217;s submission that the civic body could not renew the license if the restaurant continues to have tables and chairs in the garden and a parcel counter therein, the petitioners were allowed to withdraw the petition.
Following an agreement with New Empire Restaurant, the petitioners set up the Mcdonald8217;s fast food branch early this year. While the BMC gave them licenses under the Shops and Establishments Act, the eating house license that was to have been transferred to them was not forthcoming.
Sanglikar today claimed that the license could not be granted since the petitioners had covered the open garden outside the restaurant with a rain shed and were using it for their patrons. Around 19 tables and 23 chairs as well as a parcel counter within the enclosure has led to queues of patrons spilling out on the streets.
She submitted that under the DC rules, the space should have been left as a compulsorily open area and such encumberances could not be allowed. While Justice Srikrishna did not agree with her that a few chairs or tables were encumberances, he accepted her contention that in any case, the restaurant did not have any eating house license at present and would have to seek a separate license for the use of the open garden.
Accordingly, the court directed the petitioners to apply for an eating house license for the garden restaurant. The BMC will have to take a decision on the application within four weeks after its submission. Till then, the petitioners gave an undertaking that the garden restaurant will not be used.
HC directs state to consider students8217; medical college claim
Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences to reconsider the admission claims of two female students in medical colleges of their choice, which were earlier restricted due to unavailability of seats.
The recognition granted to D Y Patil Women8217;s Medical College, Pune has resulted in an increase of 100 seats for medical college students in the state. However, this development took place after the first round of admissionse. As a result, students who could have been merited the seats, lost the option in the first round. Two such girl students approached the high court asking for a second chance to exercise their choice of medical college seats.
The division bench of Justice A V Savant and R J Kochar today ordered the state government and the university to reconsider their claim on merit. The judges specially mentioned that 8220;while dealing with problems of girl students who go away from their parents for education, the approach must be more considerate.8221; The bench has said that the apex court too has observed 8220;parents of a girl may prefer to put their daughter in a particular college, for reasons more than one.8221; The high court has not only asked the university to consider their claims, but also ordered a refund of fees from the college in which they were granted admission.
One of the petitioner-students, Thane-based Gayatri Apte, had opted for a payment seat in a dental college at Nagpur due to non-availability of seats in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Nasik. She came to know of the 100 extra seats in the D Y Patil Pune college and another Talegaon medical college. After being denied the chance to reapply, she moved the court stating that students securing less percentage will be granted these extra seats, whereas she will be denied the option, for no fault of her own.
The other student, Pune-based Shraddha Pradhan, had opted for a payment seat in a Dhule medical college. She moved the court stating that she could have chosen a college closer home if she had known of the 100 seats at D Y Patil Women8217;s College, Pimpri Pune. If the women8217;s college was granted recognition after the first round of admission, the admission rules should allow the students to exercise their option even in the second round, her petition states.
HC admits petition on neon light signboards for restaurants
The division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswar and Justice B N Srikrishna on Tuesday admitted a petition filed by the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association AHAR against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC which charged restaurants and hotels for having neon lighted signboards outside their places of activity.
However, having admitted the petition, the bench also gave individual restaurants the liberty to file substantative petitions against the BMC giving particulars of the exact monetary burden on them depending on the size of their signboards.
Counsel for the petitioners, Rui Rodrigues argued that the levy on the signboards was illegal since the BMC were charging high tariff by misconstruing them to be advertisement displays. He contended that if the signboards were someplace away from the entrance of the restaurant and hotel, it could be taken to be an advertisement. But in this case, the signboards were only lit up as identification of the hotel.
The BMC has been charging these signboards according to their sizes. Accordingly, signboards upto 0.2 sq metres in size would attract a levy of Rs 47 per month, while it increased to more than Rs 100 for larger boards. This was being collected along with the space rent and the ground rent on which the board was being displayed.
Since the association8217;s petition could not cover the specific demands of the individual restaurants, the bench admitted the petition but gave the individual hotels liberty to file their petitions that seek substantative reliefs from the civic authorities.
