Impossible to bridge gap between 'haves' and 'have nots' of Mumbai in near future: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Dipankar Datta might have captured the emotions and plight of lakhs of people in Mumbai, when in a succinct 3-page concurring judgment, the CJ recounted the plight of and difficulties faced by people when it comes to housing and basic living amenities in India's financial capital [High Court on its own motion v. Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation & Ors.]..In his concurring opinion in a case relating to building collapses, the CJ also discussed about the stark inequalities resulting from contrast between wealthy and poor in the city of Mumbai.“While the affluent enjoy lavish life-styles and show-off their new expensive acquisitions, the whole lot struggling day long for securing their daily share of meal lack proper housing facilities and even the basic of civic amenities,” CJ Datta stated.With a huge gap existing between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in the city, CJ Datta opined that even bringing in token equality would not be possible in the near future."The gap between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' is so pronounced that no matter whatever welfare measures are thought of by social, political and economic reforms, it may not be possible in the near future to achieve even a token equality," the judgment said.In this backdrop, he was reminded of a popular Bollywood number from the 1950s which had echoed similar sentiments - 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'"No wonder, as far back as in 1956, a melodious duet of two extremely popular voices of Bollywood cautioned that it was difficult (mushkil) to live in (erstwhile) Bombay and that one would have to try hard to find a heart (dil) here," the judge said in his judgment..While the affluent enjoy lavish life-styles and show-off their new expensive acquisitions, the whole lot struggling day long for securing their daily share of meal lack proper housing facilities.Bombay High Court .The judgment came in a suo motu public interest litigation petition registered by the Court to address the issue of dilapidated buildings and illegal constructions in Maharashtra.Justice GS Kulkarni the other judge on the Bench gave the lead judgment in the matter..The Chief Justice also cited a line from Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland, where in order to depict the “utter surprise” of Alice the author used the phrase “curiouser, curiouser” which were grammatically incorrect.Alice would have exclaimed the same phrase, had she landed in Mumbai, and noticed the blatant inequalities in the lives of its people."Alice would have certainly exclaimed “curiouser, curiouser”, had she descended in this wonder city, Mumbai, and noticed the stark urban inequalities resulting from the exceedingly sharp contrast between the wealthy and the poor, the opulent and the frugal," the Court said..The gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” is so pronounced that it may not be possible in the near future to achieve even a token equalityChief Justice Dipankar Datta .In his concurring opinion, the CJ also pondered on the possible reasons for the huge slum population in the city.He stated that there was an influx of population due to migration, thereby making Mumbai the most populous city.At the same time, he observed that the Municipal Corporation was not taking measures to adequately plan development and make affordable housing projects for the working class despite having sufficient financial resources (with an annual budget of more than several mid-sized states in India) at its disposal.He observed that there seemed to be a vicious nexus between high profile personalities, bureaucrats, builders and slum lords to further the interests of the “haves”.“In the garb of legislation, in a novel manner, a fraction of the population including holders of public offices have continued to prosper by achieving their goals through impure means which are nothing short of betrayal of the trust that the people of this region have reposed in those responsible for an able governance,” the order stated..Justice Kulkarni’s lead judgment included directions to the civic and municipal authorities to ensure there is accountability among officers and precautionary measures are taken to ensure the unfortunate incidents of building collapses are not repeated.Even though the Chief Justice fully concurred with the opinion, in view of the importance of the matter, he deemed it appropriate to emphasize through his separate opinion, his expectation that the civil as well as municipal administration would implement the directions penned down by Justice Kulkarni.“We part with the hope and trust that respondents remaining alive to the duty cast upon them by law would not precipitate any further cause of action and thereby necessitate the intervention of this Court with more stringent directions,” CJ Datta said concluding his opinion..[Read Judgment]