Bombay High Court: In the instant case, the petitioner had challenged an order of the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (“AGRC”), rejecting the petitioner’s application in respect of an approved proposal submitted by Respondent 5 for the implementation of a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (“SRS”). The petitioner was aggrieved by the subsequent direction of re-election for the appointment of a developer for SRS and had prayed for the processing of his earlier made proposal for the implementation of the SRS. Another question before the Court was to determine the exact stage at which a proposal for implementation of SRS can be said to have been ‘accepted’ to oust consideration of any further proposal.
The single-judge bench of Sandeep V. Marne, J*., considered the peculiar facts of the instant case where two general body meetings were conducted by Shramasafalya Co-operative Housing Society in short gap of 8 days and favouring selection of two different developers each time vis-a-vis implementation of SRS for Juni Sherli Slum. The Court found that the respondents had followed the prescribed procedure and determined that the decision of the Executive Engineer to admit the proposal for further process as the stage of “acceptance” of such proposal.
Background
The petitioner was a Developer engaged with developing an area affected by slum structures, known as the Juni Sherli Slum. The occupants of the slum structures formed a proposed society named the Shramasafalya SRA Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. (“Society”).
The petitioner claimed that a General Body Meeting (“GBM”) of the Society was conducted in 2016 whereby the majority of the slum-dwellers adopted a resolution, appointing the petitioner as the Developer for implementing the Slum Reconstruction Scheme (“SRS”) in the designated area. Another GBM held in 2018 confirmed the petitioner’s appointment.
Post confirmation, the petitioner submitted a proposal implementing the SRS under the provisions of Development Control Regulations, 1991 (“DCR”). The petitioner claimed that an endorsement was made that no other proposal was pending in respect of the subjected plot. They had also submitted relevant No-Objection Certificates (“NOC”).
Respondent 5 was a rival developer, who had also submitted a proposal in 2018 for the implementation of the SRS; which was rejected on the account of pendency of the petitioner’s proposal. However, complaints were addressed against the petitioner claiming that a resolution had been adopted by the Society appointing Respondent 5 as Developer; and urged the SRA to conduct a fresh GBM. In 2019, the SRA issued a notice for holding a meeting of the Society through a secret ballot for the purpose of further action.
The petitioner filed a writ petition in 2019 (“2019 petition”), challenging the SRA notice, and during the pendency of the petition, a GBM was held, resolving to appoint Respondent 5 as Developer under the SRS.
The petitioner was issued a pending NOC from the District Superintendent of Land Records, SRA. The petitioner thereafter withdrew the 2019 petition with the liberty to avail the alternate remedy of approaching the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (“AGRC”). The AGRC passed an interim order directing the parties to maintain the status quo and proceeded to dismiss the petitioner’s application, which was challenged before this Court.
The Court had remanded the application before AGRC for a fresh decision and continued the interim relief till final decision by AGRC. However, the AGRC again dismissed the application, which was challenged in the present petition.
Court’s Analysis and Judgment
The Court stated that the objective of rehabilitation of slum-dwellers is the improvement of their living conditions by granting of permanent accommodations in authorised buildings’ elevating their status from unauthorised occupants to owners of permanent accommodations.
The Court emphasised that the collective body of slum-dwellers have been given a limited right of choosing a developer who would implement the SRS. However, this right has been misinterpreted by the dwellers as if they were put in control of the implementation of the SRS.
This right has been a subject of multiple litigations, as various groups of slum-dwellers are created, often fueled by rival developers who are interested in securing the development rights through SRS. About the rights of a developer, the Court said that they are more in nature of a license to construct buildings on a plot.
The Court noted that there are several stages where the ouster of a previously chosen developer could be sought by the slum dwellers, or by a rival developer.
Taking note of Section 13(2) of the Slum Act, the Court stated that the provision empowers the SRA to terminate the appointment of a developer where a letter of intent (“LOI”) has been issued and where there is delay in the implementation of the SRS or the development is being carried out in the contravention of the plans approved, or conditions imposed in the LOI.
The Court pointed out that the instant case was not about the termination of a developer, since an LOI had not been issued by the SRA to either party. The contest between the petitioner and Respondent 5 was solely about the entertainment and acceptance of their proposals for the implementation of the SRS.
The petitioner had contended that permitting SRA to entertain multiple proposals would lead to unhealthy competition amongst the developers.
The Court relied on Awdesh Vasistha Tiwari v. Chief Executive Officer, Slum Rehabilitation Authority, 2006 SCC OnLine Bom 481, and held that if simultaneous consideration was permitted to be adopted, unscrupulous persons and builders will try to win over the dwellers who had supported the application made earlier. Therefore, it is not desirable that two applications made one after the other should be considered together, and the application first received should be processed and decided on first, before considering the second application, thus applying an embargo on subsequent applications. Such a course prevents unhealthy competition.
The Court further relied on the case of Atesham Ahmed Khan v. Lakadawala Developers (P) Ltd., 2011 SCC OnLine Bom 239, whichdecided on the exact stage at which a particular proposal can be considered to have been ‘accepted’ for further process of issuance of LOI. It was held that mere submission of an application which is deficient would not operate to block other applicants, and directed the SRA to verify whether the submitted application was complete and fulfils all the requirements of DCR.
The Court also referred to the Procedure for Submission, Processing and Approval of Slum Rehabilitation Schemes, and found that the Head Clerk in the office of Engineering Department does not scrutinise the proposal but only verifies if any other slum scheme has bene accepted for the development of a plot in question. The Court was of the view that the Engineering Department thereafter decides to admit or accept the proposal for further process; and it is only then that a proposal for the implementation of an SRS can be said to have been ‘accepted’.
Vis-a-vis SRA’s contention that there could not be any embargo on Respondent 5’s proposal as the petitioner’s proposal was under scrutiny at that moment, the Court stated that such a course would result in the creation of unhealthy competition between different developers and would result in numerous simultaneous filings. This would create utter chaos and confusion. Therefore, it would be impermissible to simultaneously process two process two proposals for the same SRS.
However, the Court noted that the instant case was not about simultaneous proposals, and the respondents had followed the requisite procedure, without violating the ratio of the Awdesh Vasistha Tiwari (supra).
Considering the peculiar facts of the present case where two GBMs were conducted within a short time span, favouring two different developers each time, the Court was of the view that the respondent Society had taken a decision to reconduct voting by secret ballot ensuring the selection of a developer for the implementation of the SRS in a fair manner. Therefore, the Court found no reason to interfere with the impugned decision of the AGRC and upheld the same. The writ petition was held to be devoid of merits and dismissed.
[Vilas Rambhau Chaudhari v. Slum Rehabilitation Authority, 2024 SCC OnLine Bom 1432, decided on 10-05-2024]
*Judgment by: Justice Sandeep V. Marne
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocates for the Petitioner: Anoshak Daver with Omkar Kulkarni
Advocates for the Respondents: Vijay D. Patil, Shashikant Surana, Madhur Surana, Karl Tamboly, Jagdish G. Aradwad (Reddy)