HC dismisses all petitions challenging City Development Plan

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Mangesh Patil and Justice Prafull Khubalkar, dismissed all petitions challenging the draft Development Plan for 2024 of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, on Tuesday (April 8).

There is a difference between the draft development plans prepared in 2016 and 2024. Under Section 162 of the 'MRTP' (Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning) Act, the government, using special powers, appointed a special officer in 2024 under Section 21(4-A), who finalised the draft development plan. This procedure was not followed in 2016. The bench, while emphasizing that there is no situation to object to the state's decision, dismissed all the petitions.

Challengers

The plan was prepared by the then-appointed special officer, Mohammad Raza Khan. Petitions were filed against the implementation of this development plan by Govind Navpute, Vinod Agarwal, Hajrabi Ahmed Khan, and Syed Sarwat Begum, and a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Purushottam Sarda. After hearing the case, the bench gave the above verdict.

Representatives in the case

Senior advocate Vijaykumar Sapkal appeared on behalf of the petitioners, while Special Government Pleader senior advocate Sanjeev Deshpande and Chief Government Pleader Amarjeet Singh Girase represented the government. Meanwhile, Adv Sambhaji Tope and Adv Anand Bhandari represented the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC), with assistance from Adv Vaibhav Deshmukh.