HC dismisses tenants’ plea to add new bldr, slaps 5L cost

Mumbai: Bombay high court has dismissed an application by 52 tenants of a demolished building in Ghatkopar (W) to add a new developer as a party to their petition on redevelopment." It has also imposed Rs 5 lakh costs on them.Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata in Wednesday's order said, "It prima facie appears that the present application is moved and financed by the proposed respondent (developer) to crystalize his unenforceable right against the respondent-landlords and original developer."In Feb 2024, the tenants petitioned the HC to expedite redevelopment of Kamla Bhuvan, a dilapidated building on LBS Marg, which was demolished by BMC in April 2018. In 2025 they filed an interim application in the pending petition to add a new developer, BS Lifespace, as a party.Their advocate Deepak Thakare said they were concerned about the prolonged delay in the project. They feared the landlords would not provide permanent alternate accommodation and would renege on obligations. Thakare said the landlords had themselves introduced Lifespace and it has been substantially involved in the redevelopment process.However, the landlords' advocate Uday Warunjikar said there was no contract with Lifespace and the original developers had continued with the project. He said the tenants' application was a "ruse" to pressurise the landlords to enter into terms with Lifespace. Warunjikar said, "the tenants cannot use the court as a tool to indirectly pressurise the landlords in this manner."The judges said the tenants "have no right to implead the new developer who has no privity of contract with the landlords in the present petition." "It would only enlarge the issue and complicate it," they added. To the judges' query whether there was any binding contract between Lifespace and the landlords, Thakare responded in the negative. The judges then said the application was "an abuse of the process of law" and "elite form of coercion and extortion". It is a "backdoor door" entry attempted by Lifespace, "through a seemingly innocuous application..." Finally, despite being offered them the option of withdrawing the application, the tenants insisted that the court decide it. The judges then directed Rs 5 lakh to be paid to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa's Advocate Academy and Research Center within two weeks.