NAGPUR: The District Judge-6 has affirmed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) eviction action concerning a valuable 15,000 sq m land parcel located on Subhash Road near Agyaram Devi square, dismissing eight miscellaneous civil appeals against the civic body’s eviction notices.
The appeals, including MCA No. 271/2025 and related cases, contested NMC’s eviction proceedings initiated under Section 81-B of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, 1949. The disputed land was originally leased to the Abhyankar Smarak Trust in 1937 for charitable purposes.
In issuing the ruling, Judge MS Ganorkar noted that the lease had expired in November 1967 and was never renewed. Despite this, the Trust allegedly continued its occupation and sublet portions to commercial entities without municipal corporation approval, including automobile shops and a gas agency.
The appellants, representing various businesses and a school on the premises, argued their lawful tenant status under the Trust entitled them to eviction protection. The court, however, rejected this claim, stating that once the original lease expired, the Trust lost all legal rights to the property.
Moreover, the court recognized that the Trust failed to pay even the nominal annual lease fee of Re1 to the civic body, fortifying NMC’s assertion that the occupants were encroachers.
Highlighting the urgent need for the centrally located land for a public project, the court ruled that unlawful occupants cannot contest the government’s right to reclaim land for public use. The judgment also validated the process followed by the deputy municipal commissioner (property), confirming that adequate hearing opportunities were given to all parties prior to the eviction notices being issued.
Advocates GA Kunte and DG Paunikar represented NMC, while advocates SP Behar, ML Senad, YB Sawal, and BR Waghmare represented the appellants.
With the dismissal of the appeals, NMC can now proceed to reclaim this high-value property for the proposed public development project.
