Yash Developers Vs Harihar Krupa Co-Operative Housing Society Limited & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered an appeal challenging the Bombay High Court’s judgment upholding the order of the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee (AGRC) terminating the appellant’s appointment as developer under a slum rehabilitation project in Borivali, Mumbai. The appellant had been appointed as developer in 2003 by a co-operative housing society of slum dwellers. As the project remained substantially incomplete for over sixteen years, the AGRC terminated the development agreement on 04.08.2021 under Section 13 of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. The Bombay High Court dismissed the challenge, holding that the prolonged delay defeated the statutory object of slum rehabilitation and emphasising the limited scope of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Before the Supreme Court, the appellant sought to justify the delay by dividing the project timeline into different phases. It attributed the delay between 2003 and 2011 to litigation with a rival developer over entitlement to implement the project, the period from 2011 to 2014 to delays in obtaining environmental clearance and other statutory approvals, the period from 2014 onwards to non-cooperation by certain slum dwellers requiring eviction proceedings under the Act, and further delay to a proposed development plan road affecting the property. The appellant also disputed the findings regarding lack of financial capacity and questioned the maintainability of proceedings before the AGRC, contending that complaints initiating the proceedings had been withdrawn and that the authority lacked jurisdiction to proceed.
