In a sharp rebuke to a lower court, the Bombay High Court has ordered that Romell Housing LLP be given back possession of nearly 17 acres of land in Dahisar, Mumbai. The bench of Justice Amit Borkar ruled on September 16, 2025, that the Sessions Court erred when it set aside a Magistrate’s earlier order restoring possession to the builder.
Background
The dispute goes back to April 2017, when Sameer Shaikh filed an FIR claiming that Romell Housing’s team stormed the property with sticks and rods, assaulted staff, and grabbed land valued in crores. Romell Housing countered that it had already purchased the land from the lawful owners through registered sale deeds and paid Rs 47 lakh to late K.N. Shaikh for surrender of possessory rights. The builder said it had fenced the land, set up portable cabins, hired security guards, and was paying taxes-clear signs of control.
Despite these claims, police removed Romell’s structures the very next day. A long chain of litigation followed, including a High Court direction in 2018 for a Section 145 CrPC inquiry to determine who actually held possession on 22 April 2017.
Court’s Observations
Justice Borkar stressed that Section 145 is meant to prevent breach of peace, not decide ownership. “The inquiry is to find who was in actual possession, even a trespasser cannot be ousted except by due process,” the judge observed.
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The court noted that Romell produced registered conveyances, surrender deeds, bank statements showing payment, and proof of fencing, cabins, and hired security. Photographs from the police panchanama on the day of the incident even showed Romell’s tin sheets and cabins on site.
The Sessions Court, the judge said, had “applied rigid standards of evidence suited to a civil trial” and ignored the preventive and summary nature of Section 145. Technical objections about unregistered documents could not outweigh visible acts of possession.
Decision
Setting aside the Sessions Court’s 2022 order, the High Court restored the Metropolitan Magistrate’s 2019 direction that possession be returned to Romell Housing. The Court Receiver has been told to hand over the property once the builder pays requisite charges, with police assistance if required.
“The order dated 21 December 2019 is restored,” Justice Borkar concluded, making it clear that the respondents must cooperate and cannot obstruct the process.
Case Title: Romell Housing LLP & Anr. vs. Sameer Salim Shaikh & Ors.
Case Type: Criminal Revision Application No.108 of 2023 (arising from Section 145 CrPC dispute)
Date of Decision: 16 September 2025
