Mumbai: Dubbing them “a selfish lot” who are not bothered about people’s lives, Bombay HC has directed occupants of the top 18 floors of a 34-storey building in Tardeo which do not have an occupation certificate (OC) to vacate their flats in two weeks.
A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Arif Doctor said it is “brazen illegality” on the residents’ part to occupy the flats in Willingdon Heights without an OC, and directed BMC to initiate appropriate action if the order is not complied with.
It said “affluent” flat buyers “who have taken the law into their own hands in occupying construction which has no OC are a selfish lot who not only with open eyes are acting contrary to the building regulations but also have the means to defeat legal action” being taken by BMC.
Slamming the residents for setting a “very bad example” to protect construction that has no OC, HC said they appear to be least bothered about their own lives.
“If this be so, how can they be bothered about anybody else in the event of any untoward incident taking place?” it said, adding that such an approach, which is wholly contrary to the law, “needs to be deprecated”. “We clarify that such members would be entitled to reoccupy the tenements only after an OC is granted,” it said on July 15. The order was uploaded on Saturday.