HC slams PMC for misusing powers to aid developer

Quashes stop-work notice, orders Rs 30 L cost and OC; notes arm-twisting of one developer by another

- Urvi Mahajani

In yet another example of civic powers being misused to settle private business scores, the Bombay High court has castigated the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for issuing an arbitrary stop-work notice that stalled a housing project and left scores of flat-purchasers in distress.

The court noted that the municipal machinery appeared to have been deployed by one developer to arm-twist another, resulting in unwarranted hardship to homebuyers. Quashing the notice, the court imposed exemplary costs—Rs 5 lakh on the PMC officials concerned and Rs 25 lakh on developer Wellbuild Merchants Pvt. Ltd.

“Wellbuild has misused the official machinery of the municipal corporation in the manner which has shocked our conscience although it had pure contractual relations with the petitioner (Atria),’ a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Arif Doctor observed in a detailed 62-page judgment.