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The Bombay High Court has dismissed the Maharashtra government's petition seeking to classify 193 acres in Thane's Manpada-Chitalsar area as acquired private forest land. Upholding a 2017 Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal order, the court found serious procedural lapses in the 1970s acquisition notice, including improper service and lack of authorised signatures. With over 100 acres already used for public infrastructure, the court directed the Thane Municipal Corporation to grant Transferable Development Rights to the original landowner within 21 days, reinforcing due process and property rights protections.
The Bombay High Court has rejected the Maharashtra government's plea claiming that 193 acres of land in the Manpada-Chitalsar area of Thane had been validly acquired as private forest under the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act. The state had challenged a 2017 order of the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal which had ruled that the acquisition process was not legally sustainable. Advertisement
A division bench of Justices Ravindra V. Ghuge and Ashwin D. Bhobe held that the acquisition notice issued in the mid-1970s suffered from serious procedural defects. The court observed that the notice was neither signed by a competent authority nor properly served on the actual landowner, M/s D. Dahyabhai and Co. Pvt. Ltd. Instead, it had been addressed to another entity and was signed by a forest guard who was not authorised to initiate such proceedings. Because of these defects, the acquisition process could not be treated as valid.
The state had argued that the tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction by examining the entire 193-acre land parcel when the original notice referred to around 24 acres. The High Court did not accept this contention and stated that the tribunal had correctly assessed the legality of the acquisition process. The bench noted that there was no reason to interfere with the tribunal's findings as they were based on the record.
During the proceedings, it was pointed out that approximately 104 acres of the land are already in possession of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). Portions of the land have been used for public infrastructure, including a 40-metre-wide road, a municipal bus depot, and reservations for a public park, school, maternity home and a metro rail project. A part of the land has also been allocated for a twin tunnel project that is at an advanced stage of development.
TMC informed the court that it was willing to protect the existing green cover and, if required, hand over the park-designated portion to the state for conservation purposes. However, the court made it clear that administrative intentions could not cure procedural illegality in land acquisition.
In its final directions, the High Court ordered TMC to grant compensation to the landowner in the form of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) or Development Rights Certificates (DRC) within 21 days. The bench observed that denying compensation despite using the land for public purposes would amount to a violation of constitutional protections relating to property.
The dispute traces back several decades to the implementation of the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act, under which certain privately owned forest lands were taken over by the state. Over the years, multiple landowners across Maharashtra have challenged acquisitions where due process was allegedly not followed. This case adds to that line of judicial scrutiny where courts have insisted on strict compliance with statutory requirements.
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