Court asks govt to keep a watch on Collector

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to personally look into the ‘high-handed and arbitrary’ manner in which the Mumbai City Collector, Ashwini Joshi works.

The direction came from a division bench headed by Justice Vidyasagar Kanade while hearing a petition filed by SC Cambata Trust. The Trust has challenged the showcause notice issued to them by the collector for its alleged violation of certain conditions of a 1939 lease agreement between the trust and the government.

This agreement was in reference to the land in south Mumbai that houses the historic Eros theatre building.

Joshi in her notice had claimed the trust had violated of two conditions of the lease agreement by erecting mobile towers on its terrace and also creating third-party tenancy rights. The notice also directed the Trust to appear before Joshi in person.

In its application before the bench of Justice Kanade, the Trust had challenged the jurisdiction of Collector and claimed that the land was owned by government. The Trust also contended that the notice shows that the Collector has ‘pre-decided’ the matter and would pass an arbitrary order.

After hearing the submissions, Justice Kanade said, “The very first thing is that the Collector has no jurisdiction. Moreover, the manner in which she (Collector) is pursuing this case has left no doubt in our minds that she is bent on passing an order without giving proper hearing to the petitioner.”

Expressing displeasure on the manner in which Joshi worked, Justice Kanade said, “It appears that she is acting in an arbitrary and high-handed manner. We direct the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to look into the matter personally.”