Land reserved for police quarters dereserved unlawfully: PIL

Mumbai, April 27: Dereservation of a prime piece of land in suburban Juhu, where a cooperative society of some IPS officers now stands, has come under the court's scanner. A PIL, filed by one Yogacharya Shri Anandji, a resident of the area, alleges that this land was once reserved for police housing quarters, where ordinary policemen are provided housing, but eventually it went to IPS officers. It alleges that de-reservation violates the provisions of Maharashtra regional town planning act, and proper procedure was not followed. The matter came up before the division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and justice V M Kanade last week. The court ordered the Advocate General Ravi Kadam to explain how the de-reservation of the plot was legal by June 19. According to the petitioner, the plot, located in Juhu-Vileparle development scheme area, can fetch the price of around Rs 100 crore in the open market. Juhu-Vileparle development association was the original lessee of this plot, but in 1974 urban development department reserved it for police quarters, where low-level policemen could have been accomodated. But in April 2003, "suddenly" the reservation was cancelled and the plot bearing city-survey number 194-a reverted to JVPD association, says petitioner. "Showing largesse", the association sold the plot to Vasundhara Co-operative HSG society, promoted by IPS officer Kanakratnam, he states. The officers who own flats in this building include DIG (anti-corruption) Pradnya Saravade, dig Bipin Bharati, Additional Commissioner of Police Archana Tyagi and DCP Deven Bharati, the PIL claims. It also alleges that most of the flats in the building have been leased out at steep rents. Bureau Report
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