The Bombay High Court was informed on Monday that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) undertook the demolition at Powai’s Jai Bhim nagar on June 6 without any order from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), as claimed by the civic body.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan was informed by the Special Investigation team (SIT) that neither did it find any such order by the human rights body, not did it find the “complainant”, based on whose complaint the alleged demolition order was passed. Public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar submitted the SIT’s status report in a sealed cover to the bench.
The HC has constituted the SIT, under the supervision of joint CP (crime) Lakhmi Gautam, to probe the FIR registered in the violence that erupted in the aftermath of demolition of 650 tenements at Jai Bhim Nagar in Powai in the middle of a raging monsoon. The HC was hearing a plea by 36 homeless slum dwellers seeking prosecution of civic officials and the police for the demolition under the provisions of the IPC for house trespass, voluntarily causing hurt and provisions of the SC/ST Act. They have also sought compensation.
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Venegavkar submitted that the demolition, supposedly following SHRC order, was on complaint by one Namit Keni. They said Keni had acquired the documents from a person under the RTI. This person was fictitious and unavailable on his address. Also there is no record to show documents were given by BMC in RTI.
Moreover, there was BMC’s internal noting of 2021 which stated that the land was private land. Also, the State government circular restraining demolition during monsoon was subsisting at the time.
BMC’s advocate Poornima Kantharia referred to the May 8 order of the SHRC which said that the corporation’s affidavit does not disclose the road map for taking action and how they are going to demolish. She added that the SHRC had said that the BMC would be liable to pay Rs50,000 cost. This SHRC order was implemented, Kantharia added.
The bench questioned as to how could the BMC proceed with the demolition on private land, without having any authority. To this, Kantharia said that it has explained before the SHRC that it can undertake demolition even on private land.
On a specific query by the judges whether the State would file an FIR following the development, Venegaonkar said that there is an existing FIR.
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However, petitioners’ Advocates Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Swaraj Jadhav said that the earlier FIR was against the residents at BMC’s behest for alleged resistance against the demolition, hence a separate FIR must be filed.
When Venegaonkar informed the bench that the SIT had no jurisdiction to register FIR, the judges asked why there can’t be cross FIRs as there are different versions of the same incident.
The bench then expressed that there is a “larger conspiracy” and a probe is required to ascertain the role of all involved, whether police or the BMC or developer. The same must be taken to its logical end, the bench remarked. It then directed SIT's report to be forwarded to PI Sudhir Jadhav who has to inform whether FIR will be registered on the petitioners' complaint.
The HC has kept the matter for hearing on October 3.