Bombay high court on Wednesday directed a committee to find out how many flats were constructed by Hiranandani group in the Powai Area Development Scheme after its 2017 order allowing it time to complete the constructions.
The order by a bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni was passed on Hiranandani’s application to extend timelines given to it in October 2017 to complete construction of four wings of Castle Rock, five wings of Regent Hill, three wings of Atlantis and two buildings —Sorrento and Maple.
In February 2012, on a PIL, the high court had directed Hiranandani to construct 1,511 flats of 40 sq mts (430 sq ft) and 1,593 flats of 80 sq mts (861) sq ft before undertaking any other construction.
The PIL by activists Kamlakar Satve, Rajendra Thacker and Medha Patkar said Hiranandani had signed a lease for 230 acres of land in 1986 in a tripartite agreement with the state and MMRDA to build affordable housing. The petitioners, however, alleged that the flats were merged into sprawling 4,000-5,000 sq ft apartments and sold at premium rates.
On the developer’s application, the HC in October 2017 had granted time till June 2021 to complete the construction. It had also set up a committee to verify the developer’s claim. The builder has sought that the delay be condoned and further extension of timelines ranging from January 2022 till June 2023 be granted. It cited Covid-19 for the delay.
Senior advocate Milind Sathe for Hiranandani said majority of the flats were ready, but the balance could not be constructed due to the pandemic. He said in October 2017, 887 flats of 80 sq mt were left to be constructed. Of these, 844 flats were constructed and 43 were remaining. Out of 1,511 flats of 40 sq mt, 403 were constructed. But the petitioners’ advocates —Gayatri Singh, Sumedha Rao and Mihir Desai —disputed the figures. They alleged that commercial constructions had been made in breach of the 2012 order and even after October 2017, flats were amalgamated and sold for which BMC had issued notices in 2020.
The judges then reconstituted the earlier committee and directed it to visit the site and submit a report after two weeks. “Find out if all the figures are correct,” said the chief justice.
