Bureaucrats, ministers, army officers or their kith and kin became members of Adarsh Society and, prima facie , the possibility of quid pro quo cannot be ruled out, the Bombay High Court noted in its April 29 judgment directing the Centre and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to demolish the 31-storey tower in Colaba.
In its 223-page order made available on Monday, a division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice R G Ketkar pointed out, “It is also brought on record that bureaucrats, ministers, army officers or their kith and kin became members of Adarsh Society. It cannot be said to be a sheer coincidence. Prima facie , the possibility of quid pro quo cannot be ruled out. This Court cannot remain a mute spectator and shut its eyes to these illegalities...”
The bench observed: “It cannot be disputed that bureaucrats and ministers are custodians of the Government property. They are entrusted with the Government property. People repose confidence in them that the Government property is in the safe hands of bureaucrats and ministers and that they will protect the Government property. Prima facie , they have dishonestly disposed of the property in violation of the settled position of law. In our opinion, prima facie , the bureaucrats and the ministers are guilty of various offences in acquiring the subject plot as also misuse and/or abuse of powers.”
The court had directed the State government to consider initiating appropriate civil/criminal proceedings and departmental proceedings against the bureaucrats, ministers and politicians concerned in accordance with the law. Several of the high-ranking officials were arrested by the CBI in connection with the case.
Pointing out why the Adarsh high-rise needs to be demolished, the court recorded, “We are more than satisfied that this is an eminent case to order demolition as the entire construction carried out by the petitioners is unauthorised and illegal and in total defiance of provisions of the the Environment Protection Act as also the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act. The building is liable to be demolished and the cost, thereof, shall be recovered from the petitioners (Society).”
The court has dealt with the fact that “the Society did not obtain recommendations of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, did not obtain environmental clearances either from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) or State-level agencies and consumed floor space index of the BEST plot.” The court also held that initiating proceedings under the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act was not done in public interest and was illegal.
The court had also penalised the Adarsh Society for making “baseless and reckless allegations” against government authorities, including former Mumbai municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte.
“After analysing the material on record, we are satisfied that the petitioners (Adarsh Society) made baseless and reckless allegations for the first time during the course of arguments against the Director, Advisor and Competent Authority of the MoEF, former chief of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and three others (also from the MoEF). Merely because the director and the advisor were not represented before the court, that does not permit the petitioners to make allegations against them. These officers were discharging their duties. We, therefore, feel that in order to ensure that no baseless and reckless allegations are levelled against the officers, and that, they should discharge their duties without fear or favour, they should be compensated. This will, hopefully, discourage the persons making baseless and reckless allegations. We, therefore, direct the petitioners to pay cost of Rs. 1 lakh each to all of them,” the HC order states.
