Govt delays taking back land from trust which subleased it to school

MUMBAI: Over a year has passed since the state government decided to take back a 6,063-sq-ft plot of land deemed to have been illegally allotted to the Madhya Pradesh Mitra Charitable trust (MPMCT) in Goregaon. The Vibgyor High School building stands on this land.

In a recent follow-up with the state department of housing through an RTI application, Avisha Kulkarni, a complainant, discovered that neither had MHADA taken action against the trust nor had it made any effort to repossess the land.

In March 2022, the housing department had directed MHADA to revoke the allotment of the plot to MPMCT, which had sub-leased it to two other organisations, one of which runs the school. It declared the sub-leasing agreement, initially approved by MHADA, null and void. It also asked for action against the trust’s members and government officials involved in the land transaction along with a revocation of approval to the school.

However, none of these directives were carried out. MHADA’s Mumbai Board did send a letter to MPMCT in June last year, instructing it to hand over “vacant and peaceful possession” of the land within a month, but the state has yet to regain control of the property.

The school has been embroiled in a lengthy dispute over the land. MPMCT, which was leased the land for a nominal annual fee of Re 1, subsequently sub-leased half of it to the Rustomjee Kerawala Foundation, which constructed the school building on it. MHADA granted an NOC for the transaction, and a sub-lease agreement was approved in 2004.

Kulkarni filed a complaint with MHADA in 2016. In 2017, the chief security and vigilance officer of MHADA recommended cancellation of the allotment. However, after seeking legal advice, the housing department determined that there had been no violation in the deal. It was only after Kulkarni appealed again that it agreed in March 2022 that there had been irregularities.

Kulkarni accused the government of deliberately delaying action against the wrongdoers. “Why is the government unable to take possession of the land?” she asked. “It appears to be searching for loopholes. How many times does the housing department need to request details? They are just procrastinating.”

A MHADA official said that after the housing department’s inquiry in 2022, they had provided the details and were awaiting further instructions. The school management remained unavailable for comment.