In this blog post, Mohammed Zain Khan, Founder and Managing Partner of One Legal, Advocates and Legal Consultants, discusses Section 353B and Section 354 of Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act 1888. The blog post provides an insight in brief on the provision and procedure for eviction of tenants/occupants of highly dilapidated buildings in the city of Mumbai.

We often come across articles in the newspapers that dangerous, dilapidated buildings which have been declared unfit for human occupation by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were still occupied by its tenants/occupants in spite of being aware of the fact that the buildings are risky and dangerous for occupation which has led to the collapse of the buildings thereby causing loss of life and property to the tenants/occupants and has also caused harm to the vicinity or surroundings of the building.

In the dream city of Mumbai, owning a home is the privilege possessed by the very few and is a “dream of a lifetime” for most of the Mumbaikars. The robust development of the real estate sector at the hands of crony capitalist in the past two and half decades has led to the “Real Estate Revolution” in Mumbai but at the cost of unrealistic and astronomically high prices which are by far out of the reach of the most of the Mumbaikars, which ensures that the so called “dream of a lifetime” of owning a home in Mumbai always remains a “dream”.The astronomically high prices have also caused catastrophic changes to the real estate rental markets which has severely affected the affordability of the common man to even acquire properties/premises on a rental or a leasehold basis for self use.

Apart from the aforesaid reasons, lack of trust on the unscrupulous developers, many of whom have a history of cheating the susceptible tenants/occupants in the past, is the major reason for the tenant/occupant of the dilapidated buildings to occupy and hold their premises even at the cost of losing their lives and property but not opt for the redevelopment of their buildings. In view of this fact, time and again there has been occurrence of untoward incidents of building collapses in the city which has cast a responsibility on the Municipal Corporation for safeguarding the right and interest of the tenants/occupants of the dilapidated buildings and also the human life and property adjoining such dangerous buildings. Accordingly Section 353B, has been inserted in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1888 by amendment Act 6 of 2009 dated 14^th March 2009.

In pursuance of Section 353-B read with Section 354 of the MMC Act, 1888, the Municipal Commissioner has wide powers to issue notice and initiate eviction proceedings against the tenants/occupants of dilapidated buildings. Under Section 353-B, the Commissioner is empowered to issue notice to the landlord/tenants/occupants of a building which is more than 30 years old, calling upon them to furnish a structural stability report from a certified engineer thereby certifying that the said building is fit for human habitation. In pursuance thereof, if the structural engineer certifies that the said building is fit for habitation and directs repairs of the building then the landlord/tenants/occupants shall carry on the repairs to the satisfaction of the Commissioner. If the repairs are not carried out, the Commissioner may carry out the repairs and recover the dues from the landlord/tenants/occupants by demanding the same and if not paid, may recover it as the arrears of land revenue.

If in the event the structural engineer certifies that the building is a C-1 category cessed building and is unfit for human habitation, then the provision of Section 354 comes into force. Under Section 354, the Commissioner is empowered to issue notice to the landlord/tenants/occupants to vacate and pull down the dilapidated building. If there is failure to adhere to the notice, then the Commissioner may, after giving a week’s notice, evict them and demolish the dilapidated building. However, in spite of the aforesaid provision, in many instances the tenants/occupants refrain from evicting the dangerous building thereby frustrating the enabling provision under Section 354 of the MMC Act.

To find recourse to the dilemma, the BMC filed a petition before the Bombay High Court underling the difficulties faced by it in the implementation of notices issued under Section 354 for eviction. The petition was heard by the division bench of Justice Anoop V. Mohta and Justice A.A. Sayed. After hearing the petition at length, the Hon’ble Court passed a detailed order thereby issuing guidelines to the Corporation for eviction under Section 354.

The key features of the guidelines of the said order

• That the Corporation will independently inspect the dilapidated buildings before labeling them as C-1 cessed category buildings.

• If the buildings are found to be highly dilapidated/dangerous C-1 category, then to issue notice to tenants/occupants and provide one weeks time to vacate the said buildings.

• If the buildings are not vacated within a period of one week, the Corporation may disconnect the essential supplies to the building i.e disconnect gas, electricity and water supply of the building.

• In spite of the aforesaid, if the tenants/occupants refuse to vacate the building then mild police force may be applied for eviction.

• After eviction the Corporation can demolish the building.

• The eviction can be initiated in respect of private/state owned buildings. The Hon’ble Court directed the Corporation/MHADA to provide alternative premises to the occupants in case the buildings are owned by Corporation/MHADA.

• Most importantly, the Hon’ble Court directed the Corporation not to issue Commencement Certificates (C.C) in respect of buildings which are under the process of redevelopment and which have been demolished under Section 354 of MMC Act until there is an agreement between the Developer and the tenant/occupant of the premises under which the Developer agrees to provide a permanent accommodation in the newly constructed building or a settlement is reached between the Developer and tenant/occupant in respect of the demolished premises which has been furnished to the Corporation.

• The Hon’ble Court also directed the Corporation to prepare a list of such C-1 category buildings and measure the carpet area of the premises situated in the building which will help to provide transparency in the process of redevelopment and prevent the irregularities committed by the Developers against the tenants/occupants in redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings.

The above guidelines have brought much needed relief to the tenants/occupants who refrain from vacating their homes even at the cost of losing their lives due to the fear of losing their homes permanently to the unscrupulous Developers.