The Supreme Court (SC) has given Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) three weeks to submit details about the extra area that needs to be surrendered by builders involved in 246 redevelopment projects in the state. The order by an SC Bench, comprising Justice M R Shah and MM Sundresh, also demanded from MHADA the status of FIRs registered against developers till August 2022, says a report in The Times of India.
Recall here that it was MHADA which had approached the apex court against a Bombay High Court (HC) ruling that directed the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) to file FIRs against MHADA officials of colluding with developers enabling land misuse. Builders not only failed to redevelop the earmarked for providing housing for the marginalised sections but also did not return it.
Data obtained through RTI by petitioner Kamlakar R Shenoy showed MHADA had granted redevelopment of 1,728 projects to 379 developers till March 14, 2014. Of this, the constructed area of around 137,332 sqm has still not been surrendered to MHADA by these developers.
Only 133 developers have surrendered the constructed component, measuring around 32,233 sqm. However, MHADA has filed FIRs against only a few developers.
The HC also pointed out that 36 lakh sqft built up area worth Rs 40,000 crore was sold by developers under the redevelopment plan.
