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Bombay High Court Slaps ₹30 Lakh Costs on Litigants, Lawyers in Slum Redevelopment Case

Shivam Y.

Bombay High Court imposes ₹30 lakh penalty on Mahatma Phule CHS and Unity Land Consultancy for delayed restoration of petitions in slum redevelopment dispute.

Bombay High Court Slaps ₹30 Lakh Costs on Litigants, Lawyers in Slum Redevelopment Case

The Bombay High Court has imposed a total cost of ₹30 lakhs on two petitioners and their legal counsels for seeking restoration of writ petitions filed in 2019, which were dismissed due to failure in clearing office objections.

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Justice Kamal Khata, in a detailed order dated 21st July 2025, penalized Mahatma Phule Cooperative Housing Society (Proposed) and its lawyers, as well as Unity Land Consultancy (Developer) and their lawyers, with ₹15 lakhs each.

"Both the Petitioners and their Advocates... shall pay a cost of ₹15,00,000/- each, aggregating to ₹30,00,000/- for restoration of their respective Petitions, that were dismissed for non-removal of office objections under Rule 986 of the High Court (Original Side) Rules, 1980,"
— Justice Kamal Khata

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According to the order, Mahatma Phule CHS (Proposed) and their advocates must pay ₹7.5 lakhs each to the Poor Box Charity Fund at K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai. Likewise, Unity Land Consultancy and their legal representatives are required to deposit ₹7.5 lakhs each to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa Advocate Aid Fund.

“The aforementioned costs shall be paid within two weeks from the date of uploading of this Order on the website of Bombay High Court. Upon payment, the delay of 1959 days stands condoned, and the Petitions shall be restored to file,”
— Justice Kamal Khata

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Background of the Case

The matter relates to the redevelopment of a slum initially proposed in 2006. In the same year, Shrushti Developers were appointed, but redevelopment did not proceed until 2018. As a result, the members of the proposed Mahatma Phule CHS sought termination of Shrushti Developers and appointed Unity Land Consultancy as the new developer during a special general body meeting on April 13, 2018.

Subsequently, Unity Land Consultancy submitted their redevelopment plan to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in July 2018, which was accepted along with the scrutiny fees. However, certain dissatisfied members formed their own housing society under the same name — Mahatma Phule CHS — and contested the appointment of Unity.

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This dispute was entertained by the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (AGRC), which passed an order against Unity Land Consultancy in October 2019. Unity then approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the AGRC's decision.

The Court had earlier granted an interim stay on the AGRC’s order on February 6, 2020, through Justice Shirish Gupte.

Despite the interim relief, both the writ petitions remained inactive and were dismissed in 2020 due to non-removal of procedural objections. The petitioners approached the court again in 2025 to restore these petitions, resulting in the court’s strong reaction and the imposition of the heavy costs.

Case Title: Mahatma Phule CHS (Proposed) vs Mahatma Phule CHS (Proposed) [Writ Petition (Loding) 3075 of 2019]

Representation in Court

For Mahatma Phule CHS (Proposed): Advocates Swapnil Bangur and Shailesh Pal

For Unity Land Consultancy: Advocates Kavan Dua and Ashwin Tripathi

For AGRC: Advocates Yogesh Patil and Abhijit Patil