Bombay High Court ends 76-year-old Pune property dispute, orders land partition

The Bombay High Court has resolved a 76yearold property dispute ordering the partition of a oneacre plot in Pune among the heirs of the original ownerA single bench headed by Justice Farhan Dubash passed the judgment last month disposing of petitions filed back in February 1950 by the heirs of landowner M M H Janmohammed who had sought partition and allocation of their respective shares in the property reported PTIThe court ordered the partition of the remaining nearly one acre 4271 sqm of land in Yerawada among his heirsThe properties left behind by Janmohammed included two large plots one on Deccan College Road and the other at Yerwada in PuneIn March 1950 a preliminary partition was declared The Maharashtra government then acquired the Deccan College Road plot and the compensation was divided among the legal heirsAccording to the news agency the dispute over a 16acre plot in Yerwada persisted as several other persons including the heirs of a manager appointed by the landowner during his lifetime claimed rights over the property asserting the land had been given in lieu of debtsIn 1955 the heirs arrived at a compromise settlement But a oneacre land remained under dispute which the high court on February 27 this year directed to be partitioned among the legal heirs of JanmohammedSGNP land encroachment row escalates as showcause notice issued to deputy directorMeanwhile the residents of Abhinav Nagar in Borivali East recently alleged that Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP was encroaching on about 2250 sq ft of land near their locality bordering the park A local public representative who visited the site claimed the work was being carried out on the instructions of SGNP Director and IFS officer Anita PatilThe allegations soon gained attention and the matter was later raised in the Maharashtra State Assembly where some public representatives demanded action against the park directorAmid the controversy SGNP Director Anita Patil issued a showcause notice to SGNP deputy director South Kiran Patil The notice states that the officer allegedly failed to provide timely clarification on the forest departmentrsquos stand to residents public representatives and the mediaDepartment viewSources from the forest department said ldquoHad Deputy Director South Kiran Patil officer clearly communicated the forest departmentrsquos stance earlier the misinformation about SGNP allegedly encroaching on land would not have spread The delay in responding to the allegations ended up tarnishing the image of the park administration and the forest departmentrdquo The notice also refers to the deputy directorrsquos alleged inefficient working method and seeks an explanation for the delay in clarifying the issueWith PTI inputs