The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued five more notices to its Development Planning (DP) department officers in the Jogeshwari plot case. This brings those under inquiry to 25 in this case. The inquiry report has recommended filing a review petition in court and an overhaul of BMC’s Law Department.
A 13,674-sq.m. plot in Majas, Jogeshwari, was reserved for a recreation ground and hospital in the 1991 Development Plan, but civic officials failed to acquire it from the owner in time, despite the owner issuing a purchase notice. It tried to do so after the deadline, but lost in the High Court and Supreme Court.
Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had ordered an inquiry into the role and lapses of the Legal and DP departments in the matter. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Nidhi Choudhary investigated the role of six officers from the Legal Department and 14 officers from the DP Department, bringing the total to 20. “We found that the role of five more officers needs to be probed as they were on the relevant post at the time and not the person who has been served notice. We have now served fresh notices to five officers. If they are found culpable, we will recommend action against them as well,” Ms. Choudhary said.
Department overhaul
Meanwhile, the report recommends a slew of measures to overhaul the neglected Legal Department. One such recommendation is to form a committee that decides whether a special leave petition is required in a case. The BMC had lost its SLP in the SC in this case. There will also be a committee comprising heads of department and law officers to periodically review every case under litigation, since in hundreds of cases, civic officers simply do not follow up. The report has recommended periodic reviews by additional commissioners and the municipal commissioner. “Counsels need to be selected based on the merit of the case. Simply because a case is in the SC does not mean we engage the seniormost counsels and pay a hefty fee. The BMC spends some ₹60 crore on the Law Department’s establishment costs. We should engage renowned counsels in the HC instead, which is where it’s required,” a senior civic official said.
The report has also recommended filing a review petition in the HC on the basis of facts that have emerged in the case. The BMC has been banking on a civil suit that has challenged the plot’s ownership. It will appeal to the HC to review its earlier order based on it.
The commissioner has submitted the report to the standing committee. After the BMC lost the case in the Bombay High Court, Mr. Mehta had made a noting on the file, saying , ‘We should challenge this in the Supreme Court’. His remark was tampered to read, ‘We shouldn’t challenge…’
After the file tampering came to light in May, the BMC filed a police complaint and several people have been arrested so far.
