A Bench of Justices GS Patel and MJ Jadhav, therefore, passed an order paving the way for completing the projects in Dadar, Mumbai after the civic authorities’ had passed an order restricting the petitioners from constructing the structure.
“This is not simply a matter of putting up some construction or the other. There are very strong and undeniable religious and emotional sentiments involved. The Vihar and Smarak Room are, therefore, more than just a physical space,” the Court stated.
The petitioner, Sheetalsagar Builders & Developers, were stopped by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) from continuing with the construction of the Vihar and Smarak room. The structure was being built for the Nalanda Buddha Vihar Sangh.
During the hearing of the petition challenging the MHADA order, a dispute arose regarding the location where the structures were to be constructed.
In light of the dispute, an alternate location was provided to the developer and construction on the alternate location begun after obtaining necessary no objections certificates (NOCs) from the authorities concerned.
However, subsequently another issue arose – that the new location was seemed to be above a sewage treatment plant and a water tank.
The petitioner-developer, however, made a statement on affidavit that the project was not located above sewage plant and the water tank located below a portion of the structures would be able to withstand the pressure.
Source: Barandbench
