The Bombay High Court has vacated a stay order restricting the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) from selling its 93 flats for which Gondhali Samaj,a nomadic tribe,had staked claim. In 2006,one Shripatrao Bhise,chairman of the Maharashtra Gondhali Samaj Vikas Mahamandal,filed a petition on behalf of the tribe alleging that the funds earmarked for the backward communitys welfare are not utilised and are diverted for other purposes. The petition said that they (the backward class) have a fundamental right for utilisation of funds allocated for their benefit. During the pendency of the petition,the petitioner moved the court last year seeking that the MHADA be restrained from selling 93 tenements at Kannamwar in Vikhroli which were part of the 3,800 odd flats advertised by it last year. The court had then passed an interim order directing that no action be taken regarding these 93 flats,and also directed the state government to take a decision on the entitlement which the samaj is claiming. The government,however,in its order dated March 12 this year rejected their claim. When the case came up before Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice S C Dharmadhikari recently,MHADA counsel G W Mattos informed the court that in the recent draw of lot,certain percentage of flats were reserved for particular communities as per rule 13 of the Maharashtra Disposal of Land rules 1981. He submitted that there was also a reservation for the nomadic tribes to whom the petitioner belongs. So,they could not claim allotment of tenements in bulk as sought by them,he argued. The court accepted the submission and said it was not violative of any scheme or regulation of the government. The judges vacated the interim order and disposed of the petition. The court,meanwhile,directed state government that in the event they (the petitioner) make an application pertaining to their grievances,it should consider it expeditiously.
