The Bombay High Court has observed that the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cannot hold on to a private plot of land without officially acquiring it within the period stipulated under the Land Acquisition Act.

A bench of Justices Riyaz Chagla and Vasanti Naik observed this recently while hearing a petition filed by city resident Hasan Ali Jetha.

As per Jetha’s plea, he owns plots of land in Mazgaon area of the city.

In 1964, the Maharashtra government decided to use one of his plots for developing an open public space. While the plan was notified in the corresponding development plan (DP) for the year, in 1986 the state government changed its mind and decided against acquiring the land.

However, the state government failed to follow the procedure of issuing the mandatory notification to show that the plot had been deleted from the list of reserved plots.

Thus, much confusion occurred and in the next DP notified in 1991, the land continued to be shown as reserved for the public space that was to be developed by the BMC.

Jetha approached the BMC and the state seeking his land be shown as de-reserved and he be allowed to develop it for his use.

AS carried in PTI