Owners to hit back after BMC tear down watch showroom in Santacruz

Civic officials armed with a JCB showed up at the World Time showroom on Monday

The BMC is not having the best time with owners of a watch showroom in Santacruz West. On Monday afternoon, officials from the H-West ward, armed with a JCB, tore down the shutters of the ground-plus-one-storey ‘World Time' showroom, despite a January 24 order from the Dindoshi civil court directing them not to take any coercive action till March 12.

The store, owned by Nisha and Jayesh Chheda, had re-opened after renovation on Sunday. Nisha said, "We never dreamt something like this would happen. We have done nothing wrong. My father Visanji Palan Maru ran the shop for over a decade. He then handed it over to my husband and I. We will be taking further action as per our lawyer's advice."

BMC tore down the shutters of the ground-plus-one-storey World Time showroom in Santacruz

Not done their homework
The couple's lawyer Arvind Giriraj said, "BMC committed grave contempt with utter disregard for the court's order and demolished the tenantable repairs done by my clients. My clients were carrying out tenanted renovation of their shop since the past few months.

The local ward office had issued a notice against them on January 11 without mentioning the charges or violations committed by my clients." He added, "Instead of giving my clients sufficient time to respond, the local ward office hastily issued a demolition order on January 16. Accordingly, we moved Dindoshi civil court and managed to get an order directing BMC to not take any coercive steps... The swift action by the local ward office clearly indicates they have not done any homework, as they had issued the notice in the name of Jayesh, while the property belongs to Nisha."

Permission not required
He also said, "The notice issued is in violation of the New Development Control Rules. Also, as the building was built prior to 1961-62, no BMC permission has to be obtained for carrying out any tenantable repairs for interior works." Giriraj said they will register an official complaint with the police as well as move contempt of court proceedings against errant BMC officials.

Counsel Arpan Rajput said, "We will be taking up an appropriate criminal case against all the involved officials from the local ward office, who surely might have done this at the behest of someone, which the police will need to probe."

The other side
Speaking to mid-day, Sharad Ughade, assistant commissioner in-charge of H-West ward said, "As per my information, the ongoing work should have been stopped after issuance of a stop work notice and final order. Under the guise of a court injunction, the party continued unauthorised work illegally. This is violation of orders of the honourable court and contempt petition will also be filed." Refuting the claims, Giriraj said, "These claims are false, and no fresh work can be demolished without issuing fresh notice. They could have easily pointed out these lapses during the argument in Dindoshi court. This is brazen contempt at the behest of vested interests."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates