After SC rap Mumbai civic body clears encroachments from plot reserved for civic bus station

Mumbai, Nov 4 (PTI) The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday removed 27 commercial structures from a plot reserved for a bus station in Mumbai, a day after the Supreme Court ordered a freeze on the salary of the civic chief over non-compliance with its directions.

Later in the day, the civic body claimed the SC has withdrawn its directions freezing the November salary of BMC commissioner Ashwini Bhide and her personal staff, as well as the show-cause notice issued to her, after it submitted that steps had been taken to comply with its earlier orders.

The BMC has cleared the encroachments on the piece of land located on Swami Vivekanand Road in Borivali East, a western suburb, the corporation said in a statement.

It said that the drive was carried out on the 3,400-square-metre plot reserved for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus station under Town Planning Scheme-II.

The BMC’s R-Central ward carried out the operation with the help of 70 workers and employees, while police personnel were also mobilised to maintain security, it said.

On Tuesday, an apex court bench issued a contempt notice to Municipal Commissioner Bhide for failing to remove encroachments from the land and ordered a freeze on her November salary and other civic officials concerned.

The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also rejected the civic body’s request for an additional 30 days to comply with its earlier directions and imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh.

The Borivali plot has been the subject of a prolonged legal dispute between the BMC and a private developer.

In August 2025, the SC directed the developer to hand over the plot, free of encroachments, along with an administrative building, to the civic corporation.

Meanwhile, the civic body separately said the bench on Wednesday withdrew paragraphs 1 to 3 of its November 3 order after senior advocate R P Bhat, appearing for the BMC, informed it about compliance with its orders of November 13, 2025, and July 28, 2026, on the removal of encroachments.

The bench, however, clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on the extent of compliance and directed Bhide to file a personal affidavit detailing the steps taken to implement the orders before the next hearing, the BMC said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)