SC quashes Maha plot allotment, calls out ex-CMs' interventions

THE JUDGMENT PAINTS A DAMNING PICTURE OF HOW ALLOTMENT WAS DONE THROUGH INTERVENTIONS BY THEN CM

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the 2008 allotment of a premium plot of land in Mumbai's Bandra to a cooperative housing society, terming the process riddled with "nepotism and favouritism" and criticising the role of then chief ministers for intervening to ensure the society received the land despite glaring violations of rules and norms.

A bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah observed gross breach of norms and transparency in the allotment process, as it expressed a grim view of role played by former CMs, Sushilkumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh, in pushing the allotment through between 2004 and 2008 despite recommendations by top officers against the allotment.

"Land is a precious material resource of the community, and therefore, the least which is required from the State is transparency in its distribution," asserted the bench, emphasising the need for transparency and fairness in the distribution of public resources.