EVERARD CO-OP HOUSING SOCIETY Vs. AJAY MEHTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Our Court is increasingly inundated with cases where occupants of illegal structures seek to dictate terms, thereby depriving law- abiding citizens and taxpayers of their right to an orderly and lawful state.

(2.) This Petition exposes how the overburdened Courts and their leniency towards Authorities is systematically exploited and manipulated by slumlords, in collusion with the Municipal Corporators in charge of governance, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Police.

(3.) What initially appeared to be a straightforward plea, by five purportedly eligible slum dwellers, Petitioners in Writ Petition (L) No.29125 of 2024, ("the Slum Dwellers Petition") filed on 26 th September 2024, to prevent their displacement by the BMC, has been revealed as an attempt by squatters and land grabbers to prolong their unlawful occupation on the set back area of the Everard Society and a proposed DP road for over 24 years. These five Petitioners are among fifty-two others who have illegally constructed and occupied structures on the road adjacent to the southern wall of Everard Society, which had filed a Petition seeking their removal.