Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: November 28, 2005
Setting aside CIDCO's allotment of over 37,000
sq m land on Palm Beach Road to six "dummy" housing societies, a
division bench of Justices H L Gokhale and Roshan Dalvi also directed Vijay
Associates (Wadhwa) Developers to pay the petitioners Rs 1 lakh as costs for
the litigation for its hand in what the judges called "the most outlandish
(attempt) by the builders to grab land under the shroud of housing societies
which existed only on paper".
The court's order came on a public interest
litigation filed by the Public Concern for Governance Trust, founded by former
cabinet secretary B G Deshmukh, former police commissioner Julio Ribeiro and
activist doctor R K Anand. The petitioners claimed that CIDCO had suffered
a loss of over Rs 35 crore as it alloted prime land in the 'Marine Drive of
Navi Mumbai' to six bogus housing societies - Sea Queen. Amey, Sagarika, Sea
Link, Sea View and Vinayak. The plea was that the Cidco had bent rules to
allow builder 1.5 FSI by changing residential land use to commercial.
On probing by the high court, it was found
that the chief promoters of the societies were wholesale traders at the municipal
market. The members were mathadi workers with an annual family income of not
more than Rs 20,000. The judges found it hard to believe that "they have
applied for allotment of flat of around 1,000 sq m worth Rs 25 lakh each in
skyscrapers with amenities like golf course, jogging track, terrace gardens".
The judges questioned the role of the then
CM Sushilkumat Shinde and senior CIDCO officers including Lal. "It was
a grand plan to take advantage of their (members') poverty, lack of understanding
and ignorance and it could not be executed unless the original chief promoters,
the builders and the officers of CIDCO at the higher level such as the managing
directors were party to it. Would the MDs and the officers of CIDCO have entertained
these applicants who are principally slum dwellers for this plot known as
the 'Marine Drive of Mumbai', if they were to approach them without being
led by these traders and supported by a builder and without the blessings
of the chief minister? It is either a case of involvement in the design or
gross dereliction of duty."
The genesis of the proposal goes back to February
2004, when identical computer-generated applications from live bogus societies
were addressed to former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde seeking parts of
plot no 24 measuring 37,000 square metres on Palm Beach Marg. On February
21, CM Shinde initialled all the applications, with the words, "please
put up" and they were tagged as "VVIP". Three days later, V
M Lal, then managing director, CIDCO, also endorsed it, saying," Pl process
early". In March 2004, CIDCO allotted them the land at Rs 10,500 per
square metre, whereas the market value was Rs 21,000 per sq m. In May 2004,
again on Shinde's recommendations, CIDCO agreed to allot another plot to the
sixth society.
In January 2005, the six societies were amalgamated
into one society, Ameya Cooperative Housing Society, and signed over all developing
rights to Wadhwa builders. Many of the members of the society resigned, several
undertook to resign and transfer their membership, leaving the field open
for the builders to induct their own members. The new members had to buy the
flats at a price determined by the builder. "All the members who were
supposedly scrutinised by CIDCO as genuine members of the society would get
nothing in the new construction. They are mere names which are to be deleted
and substituted," remarked the judges. "The entire sc into a conspiracy
for smuggling in members by the builders."
The court has directed CIDCO to take over
the land and evaluate the value of the project. The Navi Mumbai Municipal
Corporation has been asked to examine whether the construction of ground plus
seven floors need to be demolished or can be regillarised. In case the project
is to be regularised, CIDCO will allot it to either genuine cooperative housing
societies or builders after inviting tenders, Wadhva builders have been barred
from participating in the bid. The state government and CIDCO has been asked
to take action against officers involved in the irregularities in allotment.
CIDCO has been directed to look into the allotment in 23 other suspect cases.
The court, while refusing to grant a stay on its orders, recorded a statement
by CIDCO that it will not dispossess the builders from the plot for eight
weeks. Ravi Wadhva of Wadhva developers, said, "We have not committed
any fraud. There is no wrong done and all the members were genuine and we
will be approaching the supreme court."
After the verdict, Lal said that the evaluation
of the land was accepted by the stamp duty registrar and that there had been
previous unsuccessful attempts to sell these plots.