Bombay high court dismisses trust appeal in Mumbai land dispute and imposes cost

Time of India

17-07-2025

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court dismissed an appeal filed by Nusli Wadia and other trustees of the FE Dinshaw Trust, labelling it as luxury litigation over land in Malad, which was sold to a developer for Rs 14 crore in 2003.
The court found the appeal devoid of merit and directed the trustees to pay Rs 1 lakh as costs to Bastion Constructions.
The trustees challenged a 2015 order by a single judge, which directed them to abide by their 2002 contract and convey two plots of Malad land to Bastion. The trust owned the land, while Bastion was the purchaser, on an 'as is where is basis.' Adjacent to the plots, there was land used by the BMC as a refuse dumping ground, and there were encroachments in the vicinity.
The land was also governed by provisions of the erstwhile Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulations) Act and was at risk of being acquired by the state.
The land was sold under the Charity Commissioner's nod, the High Court noted.
Upholding the 2015 direction to the trust to execute the conveyance, an appeal bench of the High Court comprising Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata, in a June 27 judgment available on Wednesday, stated, "We find that this appeal is a classic instance of luxury litigation initiated by the Wadias, aimed solely at frustrating and delaying Bastion's legitimate rights."
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However, the High Court stayed its order for seven weeks to enable the Wadias to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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The High Court partially agreed with senior counsel Navroz Seervai and Negandhi Shah & Himayatullah, appearing for the trustees, that it was the purchaser's obligation to obtain necessary permissions and clearances under the ULC for the conveyance. However, it held that "with the repeal of the ULC Act and the fact that the entire consideration was already paid, the contractual obligation was rendered redundant, thereby entitling the purchaser to specific performance (the land's conveyance to its name).
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The High Court agreed with senior counsel Ravi Kadam, advocate Dhawal Mehta, and Wadia Ghandhy & Co for the realtor Bastion that the trust is now required "to formally record delivery of juridical possession, distinct from physical possession," which the realtor was in and had already undertaken work on.
The HC concluded, "Through calculated and prolonged obstruction, the defendants succeeded in depriving Bastion of the conveyance and juridical possession they are lawfully entitled to. In our considered view, this proceeding amounts to an elite form of extortion and is a manifest abuse of the process of law. Such misuse of judicial machinery must be deterred in the strongest terms."