Gundecha Builders fined Rs. 1 crore by Bombay High Court

History of the Litigation

The sprawling piece of land is located in Goregaon West. The  case goes back to 1979, when Shivram Shinde laid claim on the land on the principle of “adverse possession” since 1944 – which means he had right over the government property as he had uninterruptedly occupied it for over 30 years. He claimed to have sold a part of it to Gundecha Builders, the builder in 1950 and the remaining portion in 1978.

The builder joined the litigation in 1998. They relied on notices issued by local authorities to claim possession of the land. This was opposed by MHADA, which pointed out that the land was part of the larger parcel of land of 241 acres which was given to it by the government in the 1960s. The state had acquired the land from the original owners between 1948 and 1950 and had paid Rs 14 lakh as compensation to the various owners. Shinde had not lodged any proceedings for the land during this time. Senior advocate P D Anklesaria, counsel for MHADA, told the HC, “It was a case of land grabbing by the builder, and he was claiming the land illegally in the name of Shivram Shinde, who was illiterate, poor and was never in possession of a single guntha of the property.”

Justice Mridula Bhatkar held that Shivram Shinde (who died during the pendency of the litigation) and the builder “have miserably failed for want of cogent, credible evidence to establish 12 or 30 years continuous, peaceful open possession of the land”. The judge said except for sale agreements between private parties, no document prior to 1970 of possession of the land was submitted before the court. “In the present case, the government was throughout in the possession. (Shinde and the builders) of and on might have been in possession of some portion of land by way of encroachment, but the Government did not lose its possession of the land,” the court said.