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INDIA
BUSINESS WORLD -
DECEMBER 2005
THE MONTH THAT WAS
SC STAYS HIGH COURT ORDER BARRING SALE OF NTC LAND
Realty developers and investors can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now. The Supreme Court has stayed the Bombay High Court order which had set aside the sale of mill lands by the National Textile Corporation (NTC).
A bench comprising Justices SB Sinha and PP Naolekar stayed a portion of the high court order holding that the sale of land by the NTC was contrary to an earlier apex court order and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) scheme.
According to the interim order passed by the bench, the buyers of the mill land have to submit their development plans to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in accordance with the Development Control Rule 58. This allows the developers to exclude the land occupied by the mill while calculating the area to be handed back to the state for developing lowcost housing and open spaces.
Prior to the amendment, the rule held that whenever mill land is sold, one-third of the entire land should be reserved for open spaces, one-third for low-cost housing by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and the remaining one-third for commercial purposes.
Buyers can apply and get all clearances, including the environmental clearance, from the concerned authorities, according to the SC. The order was passed during the hearing of a special leave petition filed against the high court order. However, they cannot begin any construction on the property.
NTC chairman Ramachandran Pillai said, “Within the next six to eight weeks the buyers will proceed to submit their proposals to the BMC for perusal.” He added that while this holds good for the five mills that were put on the block — Jupiter Mills, Kohinoor Mills, Elphinstone Mills, Mumbai Textile Mills and Apollo Textile Mills — the final judgement will decide the fate of 20 other mills under NTC.
The interim ruling does not apply to private mills like Morarjee Mills that are being considered for redevelopment. Shyam Chainani, the honorary secretary of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) that filed the petition against the state government said, “The Supreme Court is the highest authority and we bow to their judgement.”The total money riding on the sale of the 600 acres of NTC land to private developers is Rs 5,500 crore
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