The Bombay High Court has set aside a trial court order refusing interim relief in a long-running land dispute and restrained third-party developers from dealing with a CIDCO-allotted plot at Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, after finding that plaintiffs had prima facie paid over ₹3.12 crore towards the property under earlier agreements.
Allowing an appeal filed by the original plaintiffs, Justice Milind N. Jadhav held that the trial court had adopted a “parochial” approach by ignoring substantial documentary evidence of payments made over seven years to the original landowners and their nominees.
The dispute arises from agreements executed in 2010 and 2013 concerning a plot proposed to be allotted by CIDCO under a government scheme. Though the physical allotment materialised only in 2022, the court noted that the allotment itself had been conceived as early as 2007, forming the basis of the subsequent agreements.
The plaintiffs contended that despite having paid amounts far exceeding the agreed consideration, the original landowners entered into a tripartite agreement in 2023 with new developers, prompting the suit for specific performance. The trial court had rejected the plaintiffs’ application for the interim injunction on the ground that the 2013 memorandum of understanding was not executed by all original owners.
Disagreeing, the High Court held that the plaintiffs had established a strong prima facie case, particularly in light of uncontroverted bank records showing payments received by the landowners. The court also found that the subsequent developers had failed to conduct due diligence before entering into the tripartite agreement.
Observing that denial of interim relief would cause irreparable loss to the plaintiffs in the absence of any fault, and the plaintiffs had satisfied all parameters for interim relief, the court restored the status quo and restrained the developers from creating third-party rights until the disposal of the suit.
The appeal was accordingly allowed, and the interim injunction granted in favour of the plaintiffs will continue during the pendency of the civil suit.
Appearances
Mr. Drupad Patil a/w Ms.Srushti Chalke, Advocates for Appellants.
Mr. Anil Anturkar, Senior Advocate a/w. Mr. Abhishek Patil and Mr. Sahil Wagh, Advocates for Respondent Nos.10 and 11.
