After Taking Premium In 2005, MHADA Must Hand Over Charkop Plot Within 4 Weeks, While Bombay HC Leaves CRZ Construction Permissibility Open

MHADA allotted the petitioner an open plot at RSC-11, Charkop, Kandivali (West), and executed a registered lease deed dated 27 October 2005 after inviting offers through a public advertisement.

Although the petitioner sought possession, MHADA did not hand over the plot.

The petitioner sought a writ directing MHADA to deliver physical possession.

MHADA opposed the petition, asserting that the plot fell within the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and that the petitioner had transferred it to a third party.

The Court relied on the principle that a valid, subsisting lease deed executed by the land-owning authority is not a basis for that authority to withhold possession absent cancellation, rescission, or a declaration that the deed is invalid.

It also treated MHADA, as an instrumentality of the State, as unable to deprive a citizen of the benefit of a duly acquired plot through high-handed conduct.

MHADA invoked the Bombay High Court’s decision in Bombay Environment Action Group v. State of Maharashtra, WPL/3246/2004, and CRZ restrictions; however, the Court did not decide whether construction was permissible or whether the plot fell within a CRZ buffer zone.

No statutory provision was identified as the basis of the Court’s decision.

MHADA did not dispute execution of the lease deed, and the record contained no order cancelling, rescinding, or invalidating it.

The Court therefore held that MHADA could not rely on CRZ-related development restrictions to refuse possession of the open plot; construction rights and the application of CRZ regulations were separate questions not before it.

The alleged transfer to a third party was unsupported by evidence, so it did not justify withholding possession, though MHADA remained free to take appropriate action if cogent material emerged.

It expressly left the CRZ and construction-permission questions undecided.

MHADA’s post-judgment request for a stay was rejected.