Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition by a retired IPS officer challenging BMC’s action for removal of obstruction to the terrace adjoining his flat on the eighth floor of Bullet Building in Hindu Colony, Dadar East, which is a reserved refuge area.Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on Wednesday refused to interfere with BMC’s Aug 2018 notice directing octogenarian Uttam Kale to remove a wooden door and brick masonry wall blocking entry to the terrace and making an entry to it from his flat, and a consequent Oct 2018 order.The retired DCP’s petition stated that the land was leased by the BMC to gazetted police officers. Kale’s advocate Chirag Mody said, considering his efforts to procure the land and complete the building’s construction, the society in Sept 1996 passed a resolution permitting him and Sudhakar Suradkar to exclusively use and occupy terraces adjoining their flats.BMC’s advocate Ashutosh Gavnekar said it acted on complaints by members alleging misuse by both. Following notices to remove obstruction to the terraces, only Suradkar complied. Gavnekar said Kale suppressed that his proposal for regularisation was dismissed.The judges observed that the Sept 1996 resolution to allot flats to Kale and Suradkar in no way stated they will be “the owner and exclusive possessor of the terrace adjoining their flats”. Finding no substance in Kale’s contention, they said his claim to the adjoining terrace “is clearly based on resolutions of the society which cannot confer any substantive right on the petitioner”.Mody said as per Oct 1995 fire NOC, terrace above the eighth floor is treated as a refuge area. But the judges said “it merely suggests that the terrace of the building will be treated as a refuge area”. BMC’s July 2002 completion certificate clearly showed “two terraces adjoining flats 801 and 802 are ‘refuge areas’ which are certified by granting occupation certificate…”. Thus, whatever ambiguity in the fire NOC stood “clarified” in the completion certificate, which was never challenged. Allowing Mody’s request, the judges continued a Nov 2018 interim protection for four weeks to enable Kale to appeal in the Supreme Court.
