The bench was hearing a clutch of petitions filed by tenants, who by virtue of an agreement, had given their properties for redevelopment to a developer. The parties had agreed for construction of a 19-storey building, of which the first 12 floors would be occupied by the tenants and rest above would be sold by the developer.
However, the site fell within the close proximity with the Mazgaon Dock, which is declared a ‘prohibited area’ under the Official Secrets Act. Thus, the authority objected to the construction of the building, which was initially permitted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
But the civic body too issued a stop work notice to the developer, when he had constructed till 7 floors of the building. However, the developer completed the construction till 19 floors.
The Central government authorities and the BMC then refused to issue the mandatory certificates to the tenants and the developer and stopped the entire work at the site.
Aggrieved by this, the tenants moved the High Court arguing that their right to property was being violated by the authorities.
The Bench, however, noted that the guidelines issued by the Central government are to restrict the construction activities higher than 4th floor and that there is no complete bar on the construction.
“No fundamental rights of the petitioners are thus violated. Be that as it may, the fundamental rights claimed by the petitioners under Article 19(1) (g) are subject to the restrictions under Article 19(6) of the Constitution of India,” the bench reasoned.
Source: Barandbench
