HC issues notices to 3 societies reserved for police housing

Hearing a PIL, the Bombay High Court today issued notices to three housing societies located on six plots of land which were originally reserved for police personnel but alleged to be fraudulently allotted to a group of legislators and bureaucrats.
The notices, returnable on March 4, were issued by a bench headed by Justice P V Hardas to 'Sukhada', 'Shubhada' and 'Poorna' cooperative societies at Worli Sagar housing complex in Worli area in central Mumbai.
The bench was hearing a PIL seeking a CID probe into the alleged fraudulent allotment of the six plots at Worli Sagar complex to MLAs and bureaucrats.

The PIL, filed by journalist Ketan Tirodkar, relies on a reply by state Home department to a query under the Right to Information.
In 1988, the state had acquired six plots in Worli Sagar Society in central Mumbai's Worli area, in lieu of another piece of land in suburban Andheri for police housing.
The Worli Sagar land was originally meant for police personnel, Tirodkar argued and alleged the land admeasuring 48,560 square metres at Ambivali in Andheri was never handed over to police for housing constables.
He prayed that the Director General of Police (Housing) be directed to evacuate the buildings standing on the plots in Worli Sagar Society, and allot the tenements to lower-rank policemen on the basis of seniority.

Constables work under difficult conditions, such as low salaries, long duty-hours, poor housing facilities, etc, and therefore they should be given priority in such benefits, the PIL contended.