‘SC order will help protect public amenity spaces in cities’

The Supreme Court (SC) recently passed an order about the controversial Sun Dew Apartment, a 10-storied building on upmarket Prabhat Road in Pune. The building was built by a company owned by Girish Vyas, son-in-law of the then chief minister Manohar Joshi. Civic activist Vijay Kumbhar and corporator Nitin Jagtap had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in 1998 in the Bombay high court to challenge the change of land reservation to facilitate construction. The litigation led to a controversy and Manohar Joshi had to resign. The high court decided that the construction of the building was invalid. The SC in its recent order upheld the high court order and directed that the building be either handed over to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) or be demolished. The apex court also made some important observations in its order. Vijay Kumbhar spoke to DNA about the implications of the judgement.

What are the important observations made by SC in
Sun Dew Apartment case?
The building was built on a plot of land which was reserved for a primary school in the development plan (DP) of the city. The reservation was shifted to facilitate the construction of the building. The PIL was filed about changing reservations as per convenience. Now, the SC bench comprising justice RV Raveendran and HL Gokhale while passing the order on the petition, has made some important observations about urban planning and change of land reservations.

The court has said that whenever any reservation of land is changed, it should be done only as rarest of rare case and all procedure for the same under Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 should be followed meticulously. It has said that it is the right of citizens to know why reservations of public utility are being changed. In short, the court has opined against frequent changes made in the reservation of land for public purpose.

How would observations of the apex court affect urban planning?
Thanks to the observations by the SC in the Sun Dew Apartment case, it would become very difficult for authorities to change reservation of land for public purpose. Once, the development plan of the city is prepared and approved, it would become necessary to implement it as it is. Changing reservations of land as per one’s convenience would be very difficult. The apex court order would help make development plans more effective and help urban planning. Also, the order has underlined the need to be very careful while preparing development plans.

How will the SC order help citizens to protect their right to civic amenities?
There are hundreds of incidents in the cities where land reservation for public purpose has been changed to facilitate construction of a commercial or residential building. As the SC order is effective in the entire country, the observations made by the apex court against shifting of reservations for public purpose would help all civic activists in the country.

Activists can get information using Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) about changing reservation of land and they can refer to the recent SC judgement to fight against these changes which would deprive public of necessary amenities. Some activists in Mumbai and Gujarat have already started studying the SC order and taking steps to oppose discretionary changes in the reservations of land for public amenities.