Bombay High Court Rejects Pune Man’s Land Claim, Imposes ₹1 Lakh Fine for Frivolous Petition
Bombay High Court Rejects Pune Man’s Land Claim, Imposes ₹1 Lakh Fine for Frivolous Petition
Mumbai – The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Pune resident Abhay Khinvasara challenging a land acquisition completed in 1972. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh, citing the case as an abuse of the legal system and an attempt to revive a long-settled matter.
The dispute involved a 4-acre (160-guntha) plot in Akurdi, Pune, acquired by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Act of 1961. Khinvasara, who initiated the legal challenge in 2010, alleged that the government had illegally acquired the land without proper compensation and had wrongly registered its ownership in revenue records.
However, the court noted that his father, the original landowner, had consented to the acquisition in 1968 and never contested it during his lifetime. A bench comprising Justices G.S. Kulkarni and Advait M. Sethna highlighted that the official records confirmed the land’s acquisition in 1972, rejecting Khinvasara’s claims of continued possession as unsubstantiated.
The court further criticized Khinvasara’s approach, stating that he deliberately sought out official inquiries and responses to support his case. After discovering that key acquisition documents were no longer available, he attempted to alter his petition to claim the land had never been acquired.
Emphasizing that legal challenges to land acquisitions must be raised without unreasonable delay, the court warned that such cases burden the judicial system and obstruct vital public projects.
