Four hotel owners from Bandra stn loses stall demolition case
Owner of four kabab stall owners, Yadgaar Restaurant and a pan shop at the Bandra Station Road on Monday lost the case of demolition of their establishments by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai in May 2016 without notice.
Allowing an appeal by the municipal corporation, the Supreme Court struck down the Bombay High Court’s judgment on 12.06.2016 directing it to allot them the same size stall/shop in the same or nearby locality to carry on the business and granted seven other reliefs, including compensation for loss of business, in the nature of mandamus.
The municipal corporation had removed the stalls and shops on the ground that they were erected on the public severs, creating hurdle in cleaning, and also caused traffic congestion on the narrow road.
Lucky Kabab Corner, Danish Kabab Corner, Gulsik Kabab, A-1 Seak Kabab Corner, Yadgar Restaurant and the Pan shop owners had contended that they had been granted health licences by the municipal for selling their foodstuff and hence their removal was illegal.
The Bench of Justices Abhay Manohar Sapre and Dinesh Maheshwari, however, held that grant of the health licence has nothing to do with demolition and the municipal commissioner need not give any notice under Section 314 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, to remove the structures from the site. It held that the structures were erected without the commissioner’s permission and hence their removal is not illegal.