Bombay HC says its machinery was ‘abused’ to demolish crematorium in Mumbai

The Bombay High Court came down very heavily on the office of Mumbai suburban District Collector for its “very high handed action” over the demolition of a crematorium of fishermen in Erangal beach in suburban Malad.

“Prima facie we are satisfied that the machinery of the court was abused to ensure removal of the crematorium,” the court said.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the demolition of a crematorium on the seafront at Erangal beach in suburban Mumbai. The PIL had claimed that the construction of the crematorium was in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) rules.

The court noted that the fishermen’s community was not given a hearing before demolition action was initiated. Chief Justice Datta said that the bench did find something amiss in the plea and hence had been adjourning the matter, but an order for inspection of the crematorium was obtained by another bench when Chief Justice Datta was not in town.

The court further noted that the fishermen’s community who run the said crematorium had not been made a party in the petition and they were not issued a show cause notice by the Collector’s office before the demolition process was undertaken. The bench also raised questions on the bonafide of the petitioner. “There is a hotel nearby. The hotel must have made this person (petitioner) file this petition. Otherwise, why will this person care about this crematorium,” Chief Justice Datta said.

Moreover, the bench felt that the court keeps passing hundreds of orders every day but no action is taken by the authorities, but in this case, the prompt and swift action of demolition was taken. “We are compelled to record that this was a very high handed action by the Collector’s office against the fishermen community without following the rule of law,” the court said.

Following directions from the court, the suburban district Collector was present in court on Monday. Advocate Abhay Patki, appearing for the Collector, told the court that the crematorium was demolished following directions from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) for CRZ violations. Patki, however, said that the fishermen’s community was not given a hearing.

During the hearing, the court noted that MLA had in 2008 issued funds from the MLAs’ fund for the crematorium. The bench added that in 1995 the crematorium was in operation. The court has sought details about the existence of the crematorium from the authorities about the crematorium.

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