Central government claims ownership of the disputed land in Mumbai before the Bombay High Court

Central government claims ownership of the disputed land in Mumbai before the Bombay High Court

It asserted that the Salt department was the holder of the estate

The Central government has asserted its ownership of the land in Mumbai's Kanjurmarg area. The disputed land relates to the construction of the Metro car shed, a part of the ongoing Mumbai Metro Rail project.

The Deputy Salt Commissioner and Defence Estates Officer filed an affidavit before the Bombay High Court pointing out that the land had always been in the possession of the Government of India.

The affidavit was filed in the 2006 disposed of suit. Accordingly, through consensus, the title of the disputed land was purportedly vested with a private company, Adarsh Water Parks and Resorts Pvt. Ltd.

The state government claimed to have learnt of the decree only this year. It promptly filed an application before the high court challenging the consent terms. It claimed that the company had obtained the land fraudulently. It proposes to construct a metro car shed on about 100 acres of the land.

Meanwhile, the affidavit by the Central government said that it came to know about Adarsh's claim only after the state government filed an application challenging the decree. It claimed ownership of over 220 acres of land. The defence estates claimed ownership of over 1,600 acres of land.

The affidavit stated, "The applicant has no right, title and interest of whatsoever nature in respect to the land. No other party, be it the applicant or the parties to the suit, can deal with the subject land in any manner. Since the salt department owns it, the consent terms ought to be set aside."

Originally, the metro car shed was to be developed at Aarey Colony, which triggered widespread protest and petitions before the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

But, in 2019, after the Shiv Sena-led coalition government came to power, 800 acres of the Aarey area was declared a reserved forest. The government then decided to instead develop the car shed at Kanjurmarg.

Last year, the high court granted an interim stay on the transfer of 102 acres of the land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for carrying out the metro car shed construction work.