SC asks Bombay HC to conduct performance audit of 1971 Maharashtra law on slum development

In an unprecedented verdict the Supreme Court has asked the Bombay High Court to conduct a performance audit of a 1971 Maharashtra law on slum redevelopment saying over 1600 cases are pending in the high court and the welfare legislation for poor is gridlockedThe top court asked the chief justice of the high court to set up a bench to initiate suo motu proceedings to review the working of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Improvement Clearance and Redevelopment Act 1971 to identify the problems faced in its implementationThe Executive branch has a constitutional duty to ensure that the purpose and object of a statute is accomplished while implementing it It has the additional duty to closely monitor the working of a statute and must have a continuous and a real time assessment of the impact that the statute is havingreviewing and assessing the implementation of a statute is an integral part of Rule of Law a bench of justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar said on TuesdayThe bench said the judiciary has another role to perform and that is of a facilitator of access to justice and effective functioning of constitutional bodiesIn this role the judiciary does not review executive and legislative actions but only nudges and provides impetus to systemic reforms it saidThe directions were issued in a judgement dismissing an appeal of Yash Developers against the high court verdictThe high court had upheld cancellation of a slumredevelopment project granted in favour of the real estate firm in 2003 for developing a slum in Borivali area of MumbaiHowever the project was unduly prolonged for over two decades and the agreement was terminated by the Apex Grievance Redressal Committee on August 4 2021The top court not only dismissed the plea of the firm but also imposed a cost of Rs one lakh payable to Supreme Court Mediation and Conciliation Project CommitteeJustice Narasimha writing a 43page judgement redflagged the working of the law and concurred with the exasperation expressed from by the high courtOrdering review of the functioning of the law the bench referred to the National Judicial Data Grid NJDG data and said they revealed that a total of 1612 cases involving disputes arising under the Act are pending before the high courtOf these 135 cases are more than 10 years old In the last 20 years 4488 cases have been filed and disposed of under the said Act Latest data from the BombayHC reveal that about 923 cases on the Appellate side and 738 on the Original Side are pending adjudicationThe Act is a beneficial legislation intended to materialize the constitutional assurance of dignity of the individual by providing basic housing so integral to human life However the propensity and the proclivity of the statute to generate litigation are worrisome There seems to be a problem with the statutory framework for realizing the purpose and object of the statute the bench saidIt said the exasperation of the high court about working of the Act is understandableThe present appeal is a classic example of why the high courts concern is genuine It has been noticed that the statutory scheme is problematic with respect to i Identification and declaration of land as a slum This problem involves an examination of the role of authorities in giving such recognition insidious intervention of builders in the said process cast doubts on the independence and integrity in the decisionmaking process it saidIt said the process of identification of slum dwellers involved a complicated process of proof of such a statusThe verdict said these problems arising out of the statutory scheme and policy framework should have come under review by the Maharashtra governmentAssessment of the working of the statute to realise if its purpose and objective achieved or not is the implied duty of the executive government Reviewing and assessing the implementation of a statute is an integral part of Rule of Law It is in recognition of this obligation of the executive government that the constitutional courts have directed governments to carry performance audit of statutes it saidThe executive has a constitutional duty to ensure that the purpose and object of a law is accomplished while implementing itIt has additional duty to closely monitor the working of the law and must have a continuous and a real time assessment of the impact that the statute is having it saidThe Maharashtra law is intended to benefit the marginalised and the impoverished and it is not easy for the intended beneficiaries to carry their voice to legislative branch for effective reform it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever