# Bombay HC tells state to stop being dormant landlord on its own land 2026-09-29T23:31:36+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Bombay High Court has called on the Maharashtra government and public bodies to actively push redevelopment on their own land instead of acting as "dormant landlords" while public property is encroached upon and tied up in litigation. A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale made the remarks while hearing petitions on a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme covering 66,000 sq m of government land in Chembur. Slum redevelopment efforts on this plot began in August 2006, but not a single brick has been laid in 20 years, the court noted, blaming continuous legal disputes between slum-dweller societies and rival private developers. The court said slum dwellers cannot be treated as "pawns in private commercial battles" and called for time-bound execution of such schemes. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Free Press Journal reports the observations as part of a judgment on a batch of petitions: one by a private developer challenging notices on the reassessment of consents and financial capacity, and connected petitions by slum dwellers' societies and rival builders. The bench aimed its criticism at the state and its planning authorities, which it said act as quiet onlookers after encroachment and allow commercial deal-making over government land. Its remedy is administrative: smoother functioning, monitoring and time-bound execution of slum rehabilitation schemes. The test of the ruling is whether the authorities now move the Chembur scheme, stalled since August 2006, to construction. Corrected 30 September 2026: case status and analysis. ## Coverage - freepressjournal.in Leads with court calling for proactive government, foregrounds 20-year delay on 66,000 sq m Chembur land This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bombay High Court, Chembur, Girish Kulkarni, Maharashtra government, Neela Gokhale, Slum Rehabilitation Authority Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-hc-tells-state-to-stop-being-dormant-landlord-on-its-own-land/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bombay-hc-tells-state-to-stop-being-dormant-landlord-on-its-own-land/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/