Now Reading: Calcutta High Court orders closure of M-Bazaar in former cinema hall
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Calcutta High Court orders closure of M-Bazaar in former cinema hall
The Calcutta High Court has directed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to immediately shut down M-Bazaar, a garment store operating from the former Paradise Cinema Hall at 39 Bentinck Street, Kolkata. A division bench held that a garment business cannot run from an assembly building without permission for change of use under Section 416 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980.
The bench of Justices Shampa Sarkar and Smita Das De set aside a single bench order that had declined to interfere with a Certificate of Enlistment issued to Metro Retail Private Limited. The court noted that the corporation's own inspection found the ground floor converted into a shopping mall without a sanctioned plan. It directed that the business remain closed until lawful permission is obtained.
The court also directed the Municipal Building Tribunal to dispose of a pending appeal against the refusal of change-of-use permission within two months. The division bench took strong exception to a fresh enlistment certificate issued on April 7, 2025, despite the special officer having already disallowed the conversion from cinema hall to garment shop.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The dispute turns on the distinction between an assembly building, which a cinema hall is, and a mercantile building. Under the KMC Act, changing the use category requires approval from the corporation, not just a trade licence or fire NOC. M-Bazaar's operator had argued that a Certificate of Enlistment was sufficient, but the court ruled it cannot override the building's original classification. Similar conversions of old single-screen theatres into retail or commercial spaces are common across Indian cities, and this judgment sets a precedent that municipal authorities cannot bypass planning laws. The key date to watch is the tribunal's decision within two months on the pending appeal.
Source: livelaw.in
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