IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that a notice under Section 13 is mandatory for the 120-day period to commence, affirming the landowner's preferential right to develop slum rehabilitation areas.

JUDGMENT :

(Somasekhar Sundaresan, J.) :

1. Rule. With the consent of the parties, taken up for final hearing and disposal.

2. This Petition is essentially a challenge to two orders dated 17th February, 2023 (collectively, “Impugned Order”) passed by the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (“AGRC”), which has ruled that a proposal submitted by the Petitioners to redevelop a piece of land that had been declared as a slum rehabilitation area on 13th February, 2020, cannot be processed by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (“SRA”).

Factual Matrix:

3. The subject matter of this petition is the land situated at CTS No.472; 472/1 to 472/49; 479; and 484 situated in Poisar Village, Taluka-Borivali, Mumbai (“Subject Land”). The Subject Land, along with other neighbouring land, all of which having been encroached upon by slum dwellers, came be notified as a slum rehabilitation area under Section 3C of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 (“Slum Act”).

4. A brief overview of the facts necessary for adjudicating this petition is summarised below:-

a) Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Pvt. Ltd., Petitioner No.1 is said to be the original owner of the Subject Land.

b) Laxmi Raj and Vinayak Buildcon LLP, Petitioner No.2, is a limited liability partnership that is said to have acquired interests in the Subject Land by executing a registered instrument dated 18th October, 2022. Petitioner No.3, Mr. Pravin Kothari is a partner of Petitioner No.2.

c) The Petitioners are desirous of developing the Subject Land in conjunction with the proposed society Chaitanya Sanyukta Sahakari CHS (Prop) (“Chaitanya”), Respondent No.9, purported to have been formed by the slum dwellers occupying the Subject Land.

d) Chaitanya is said to have 294 slum dwellers as its constituents. Two other proposed societies too, with slum dwellers as their constituents are in the fray – Asthavinayak SRA CHS (Prop) (“Asthavinayak”), Respondent No. 3 and Hari Om Sahakari SRA CHS (Prop) (“Hari Om”), Respondent No. 4.

e) Asthavinayak and Hari Om are said to have various slum dwellers residing on multiple parcels of land (including the Subject Land), as their constituents. They appointed a developer M/s. Ambit Reality (“Ambit”), and filed a proposal on 2nd May, 2019 for acquisition of a larger area of land designated as a slum (including the Subject Land), for implementation of slum schemes.

f) On 13th February, 2020, the land in question, including the Subject Land, was declared as a slum rehabilitation area. On 21st January, 2021 and 2nd February, 2021 the SRA issued a public notice under Section 14(1) of the Slum Act to acquire the larger property at the instance of Asthavinayak and Hari Om.

g) On 11th February, 2021 Petitioner No.1 filed its objections with the Chief Executive Officer, SRA, asserting that since the Subject Property forms part of the two parcels of the larger areas of land that had been declared as a slum rehabilitation area, Petitioner No.1 as the owner, has a preferential right to develop the Subject Land. Petitioner No.1, also asserted that the acquisition would need to be in compliance with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (“2013 Land Acquisition Act”). Since a major portion of the Subject Land was under reservation, it was claimed that the Subject Land would fall outside the purview of the Slum Act. Two separate letters of the same date were issued, one for land bearing CTS Nos. 472; and 472/1 to 472/35; and another for CTS Nos. 472/36 to 472/49.

h) The land proposed to be developed by Asthavinayak includes land bearing CTS No. 472; 472/1 to 472/35; and 479, which are part of the Subject Land. The land proposed to be developed by Hari Om includes land bearing CTS No. 472/36 to 472/49 and 484, which are the remaining part of the Subject Land. The proposal by these societies along with Ambit is to develop all the land that forms subject matter of the notification made b