G.S. Kulkarni. J.

Rule returnable forthwith. Respondents waive service. By consent of the parties and at their request heard finally.

1. The petitioner who is the owner of land bearing CTS No.191 I, 191I/1 to 83 admeasuring 9054 sq.meters at Village Tungwa, Taluka Kurla, Mumbai (for short 'the said land'), has filed this proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution, challenging the notice/notification dated 22 December 2016 issued by respondent no.1-State of Maharashtra (for short 'the State Government') under sub-section (1) of Section 14 read with paragraph (A) of sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of Section 3-D of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Re-development) Act, 1971 (for short “the Slum Act”), declaring acquisition of the said land of the petitioner, for the purpose namely to enable the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (for short “the SRA”) to carry out development under a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, on the said land, which has been declared as a ‘slum rehabilitation area’ under Section 3-C(1) of the Slum Act. Consequent to the impugned notification Respondent no.3-Deputy Collector Slum Rehabilitation Authority by a communication dated 7 January 2017 has called upon the petitioner to furnish details of the amount of rent which the petitioner has collected since last five years, to be furnished, for determination of the acquisition compensation, failing which it would be presumed that the petitioner has nothing to say. This communication is also impugned by the petitioner.

2. In recent times in all urban areas we see large scale building activities, city of Mumbai is not an exception and in fact would be the epicenter of such activity, with skyscrapers being built wherever land is available and the city has to grow only vertically. Apart from slums on public lands there are as well slums on large private lands. Thus large part of the development activity is also the development of slums and slum rehabilitation areas. What would be the nature of the statutory rights of private owners of land, in re-development of such slum areas under the Slum Act? Whether the owner of the land would have a preferential right to undertake re-development or the only method to re-develop such areas would be to resort to compulsory acquisition of such private land are the question as posed in this petition.

3. Principally the following questions would require determination in this petition :

(i) Whether the petitioner who is owner of the land which is declared as a slum rehabilitation area under section 3-C(1) of the Slum Act would have a preferential right under section 3-B(4)(c) and (e) read with section 13 (1) falling under Chapter I–A of the Slum Act, as inserted by Maharashtra Act 4 of 1996 to undertake re-development the slum rehabilitation area ?

(ii) If the owner of the land has such rights under the provisions as referred in (i) above, whether the failure of the authorities to recognize and enforce such rights of the owner of the land, would render illegal, the acquisition of land under section 14 (1) of the Slum Act ?

4. We narrate the conspectus of facts to aid the discussion : -

The petitioner is the owner of the land in question since the year 1970. It is not in dispute that the land was encroached by hutment dwellers. In the year 1979, the State Government vide notification dated 18 September 1979 issued under Section 4 of the Slum Act, declared part of the land admeasuring 3045.03 sq.meters as a ‘slum.’ Thereafter the SRA exercising powers under Section 3-C(1) of the Slum Act by a notification dated 11 March 2011 published in the official gazette, declared the entire area of the petitioner's said land admeasuring 9054 sq.meters as a ‘slum rehabilitation area'. Consequent to this notification the SRA appears to have taken steps, to acquire the said land purportedly on a proposal of the respondent no. 4 which is a housing society formed by the slum dwellers/occupants of the land.

5. The petitioner as was not