The Bombay High Court has come down heavily on officials of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) for "overstepping their authority and jurisdiction" by misinterpreting a remark made by the Chief Minister as a formal stay order. This action halted the redevelopment of two housing societies in Pune's Sadashiv Peth area.
Court's Stern Rebuke and Key Rulings
A bench comprising Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe, in its order dated December 23, also expressed strong disapproval of what it termed as "extra-legal interference" by BJP's Kasba Peth MLA, Hemant Rasne. The court noted his actions seemed aimed at pressuring MHADA officials in the matter.
The bench made two crucial declarations. First, it upheld the validity of the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to Sunglory housing cooperative on April 9, stating it was legal and that the society could proceed with its redevelopment plan. Second, it directed MHADA to take a decision on the pending redevelopment proposal of the Nutan housing cooperative on or before January 15, 2026.
Sequence of Events: From MLA's Letter to MHADA's 'Stay'
The controversy began when MLA Hemant Rasne wrote to the Chief Minister on May 14. In his letter, he pitched for a large cluster development project encompassing all old MHADA buildings in Lokmanyanagar. He identified the individual redevelopment plans of Sunglory and Nutan housing cooperatives as potential hurdles for this larger project.
The Chief Minister noted "Grant stay until further orders" on this letter and forwarded it to the Vice President of MHADA. The Vice President, however, did not record any specific instruction based on the CM's remark.
Despite this, and despite MHADA having already issued an NOC to Sunglory, the authority's officiating architect and planner, Maheshkumar Bankar, wrote to the chief officer on June 24 indicating that a stay had been ordered. Acting on this, the chief officer wrote to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) citing the stay on Sunglory's NOC and also issued a letter to the Nutan housing cooperative.
Judicial Scrutiny and Final Observations
Aggrieved by these letters, both housing societies approached the High Court. The bench scrutinized the actions of the MHADA officials closely.
The judges stated they would be failing in their duty if they did not examine why officials, particularly the Chief Officer and Architect Maheshkumar Bankar, acted without verifying the correct legal position from higher authorities like the Vice President. The court emphasized that the CM's remark was directed to the Vice President, who had taken no clear stand.
"We have, therefore, no hesitation to deprecate such actions of these public officials," the bench said, criticizing them for acting with impunity, forgetting their statutory limits, and exceeding their authority without applying their minds. The court concluded that such blanket actions should not have been taken, especially when a valid NOC was already in place for Sunglory and a proposal was merely pending for Nutan.
The ruling brings clarity and relief to the two housing societies, allowing one to proceed and setting a clear deadline for the other, while admonishing administrative overreach and political interference in statutory processes.
