The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC/ MCGM) was charged costs of 2 lakh by the Bombay High Court on Monday in the matter of The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai & Ors versus Zenith Tins Private Limited & Anr.
The review petition was condemned by a bench of Justices GS Patel and Gauri Godse as a “abuse of a Court’s procedure.”
After taking into account an affidavit submitted by a person named Sudhakar Ramkrishna Mahajan on behalf of the BMC, a 2019 order in a lease dispute that made a rule absolute was under review by the BMC.
The review request was made on the grounds that after the 2019 order, Estate Department staff members searched through old documents and found information that essentially proved Mahajan’s affidavit allegations to be false. The Court noted that the affidavit claimed that Mahajan had perused the available pertinent data, and it questioned why the sifting could not have been done prior to filing.
In addition, the Court noted that it was not explained to it how the case fit under Order 47 or Section 114 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), and in particular, how, given the circumstances, the MCGM could be deemed to have shown “due effort” in finding the evidence.
The Court dismissed the review petition with costs of 2 lakh due to the original petitioner, stating that it was completely devoid of any substance.
[Read Order]
