City’s people need open spaces: Bombay High Court tells BJP govt

The Bombay High Court’s Justices A.S. Oka and C.V. Bhadang JJ have asked the Bhartiya Janata Party to demolish the illegally constructed structure at the party’s State headquarters near Mantralaya..The court was hearing a PIL filed by the Nariman Point Churchgate Citizen’s Welfare Trust that contends that state agencies and political parties have encroached upon the Jawaharlal Nehru Garden. The garden, situated close to Mantralaya, is a recreational ground under the Development Plan for Greater Mumbai..In 1995, the state government granted an additional area of 1,482 square feet to the BJP over and above the the initial 1,200 square feet constructing the BJP’s office. However, no agreement to this effect was placed on record..Senior counsel S.U. Kamdar, appearing for the BJP, said that the actual construction was spread over 4,000 sq ft but also submitted that the BJP would demolish all illegal additions and restore the structure to its original sanction of 1,200 sq ft. The BJP has been given three months ascertain the area earmarked for its office in the development plan of 1991..The High Court also directed the BMC to demolish the illegal structures if the BJP did not do so within six months..Advocate General Srihari Aney had earlier said “anything not permissible under law must go”..In addition to the BJP headquarters, the Bombay High Court has also directed the State government to consider shifting the offices of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, the State Employment Exchange and the Janata Dal’s office to another location..Concluding his order Oka J. said,.“In the larger interest of the general public, the state government should seriously consider shifting the structures to a different location and also persuade the political parties to do the same since the area is an open space and very few such spaces exist in this city.”