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Mumbai: The Supreme Court’s interim order issued
today, stayed a Bombay High Court order holding that
the sale of textile mill land by the National Textile
Corporation (NTC) was contrary to the Board for Industrial
and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) scheme and the apex
court order. The SC sanctioned the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) and other concerned authorities to
proceed with the clearance of the development plans
of the mills of National Textile Corporation (NTC) and
developers of the plots.
A bench, comprising Justice S B Sinha and Justice P
P Naolekar, conceded the order to this effect during
the hearing of a bunch of petitions of private mill
owners and the NTC challenging the Bombay High Court.
The bench clarified that this provisional order was
subject to the decisive results of the pleas awaiting
hearing. The court also directed that there could be
no construction or third-party negotiations. The bench
stated that the BMC would take into account all development
plans as indicated by the revised guidelines of 2003
concerning the open land issue.
The HC had earlier stated that the constructions made
by developers stood in violation of government notifications
as none have acquired consent from the Ministry of Environment
and Forests. The Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG)
too, had filed a PIL charging that NTC had sold surplus
lands of its five mills in violation of the Development
Control (DC) Rule 58. NTC has 25 textile mills spread
over 285 acres in prime locations of the city estimated
to be worth over Rs 5,000 crore.
Besides NTC, various others like Apollo Mills, Mumbai
Mills, Elphinstone Mills, Kohinoor Mill no 3, Jupiter
Mills, Mafatlal Industries, Simplex Mills, Ruby Mills,
Swan Mills, Prakash Cotton Mills and Bombay Dyeing have
contested the HC ruling.
The hearing is scheduled to continue tomorrow and will
resume again in January after the Court vacations.
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