Mumbai: Bombay high court has frowned at BMC commissioner Ashwini Bhide for not complying with its recent order to carry out extensive examination of civic land parcels to identify lands for implementing the state government’s October 2008 policy for providing free houses to sanitation workers.Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale on Monday said BMC’s sanitation workers “perform the most vital public health functions touching the society at large” and “they cannot be met by systemic neglect when it comes to their entitlement under the avowed government policy to provide a permanent roof over their heads”.Hearing petitions by retired sanitation workers, the judges said it was “unfortunate” that Bhide’s affidavit “sadly” did not comply with the August 10 “clear” order. They then asked senior advocate Narendra Walawalkar, with advocate Joel Carlos, to discuss with Bhide, “by indicating that there was something drastically amiss in the said affidavit, and as to what should be the appropriate approach to be adopted, in the facts and circumstances of the case”.Post-lunch session, Walwalkar informed HC that Bhide had instructed him to state “that she has nothing further to add beyond what is set out in today’s affidavit”. The judges were “quite surprised with such stand” as the August 10 order was also based on Bhide’s earlier affidavit which stated that 7,681 lands were leased or tenanted and 8,000 lands had amenities. The HC had then appreciated Bhide’s stand that she would take stock of lands belonging to BMC and all steps to ensure they are identified to include in the pool for implementing the October 2008 policy.The judges, “not satisfied” with Bhide’s affidavit, directed her to place on record details of all lands mentioned in her earlier affidavit and its present occupancy “so that further appropriate orders can be passed”.While refraining from drawing inferences whether there is attempt by municipal officers to suppress information, they said that the HC can take “sufficient judicial notice” of how large tracts of municipal land were permitted to be encroached by slum and thereafter handed over to “private developers to be developed as slum scheme, thereby conferring a bonanza of such municipal gift to such encroachers and other beneficiaries”. “However, on the other hand, BMC’s own sanitation workers have been deprived of housing for 18 years,” the bench added.The judges said that when orders were clear, “they ought to have been complied in letter and spirit”, adding: “We, hence, regret the municipal commissioner being advised to file such an affidavit…” They adjourned the hearing to September 9 for Bhide “to reconsider the contents of today’s affidavit and place an appropriate fresh affidavit on record”.
