Highrise permit:Mah, BMC & 2 societies told to file affidavits

The Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Shubhada and Sukhada housing societies in Worli, to file their affidavits in reply to a petition alleging corruption in permissions granted to these buildings.
RTI activist Amit Maru had filed the PIL alleging several rules were flouted while granting permission to the multi-storeyed Shubhada and Sukhada buildings, which is home to several politicians and bureaucrats here.
According to the petition, the civic body had illegally allotted additional land which was originally reserved for a garden to the two societies.
"After the transfer, the societies were also granted additional FSI," Maru's advocate Abha Singh argued.

The petition further claimed that since the plot reserved for the garden falls under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), requisite permission ought to have been taken from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest or the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) before transfer.
The PIL has sought for a committee to be set up to probe into the irregularities and for action to be initiated against errant officials.
A division bench of Justices Anoop Mohta and M S Sonak today directed the two societies, the state government and the BMC to file their affidavits in reply within four weeks.