The Bombay High Court (BHC), while disposing of a petition by two residents of buildings owned by the H. B. Wadia Fire Temple Charity Fund on November 18, 2014, directed the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to suggest a formula for sharing the cost of repairs between itself, the owners and tenants of dilapidated buildings in Bombay, reported The Times of India (TOI) on the following day.
Dilapidated buildings are not repaired due to a paucity of funds
The tenants of the dilapidated buildings had approached the BHC saying that MHADA and the landlord Trust had cited financial inability to foot the estimated expenditure of Rs 75 lakhs for the architect earlier appointed by the court. A division bench of Justices V. M. Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai heard the petition. TOI reported that advocates Raju Moray representing the tenants and Khushnum Daviervala who appeared for the Trust subsequently told the BHC that their clients were willing to share one third of the cost of repairs, while MHADA’s lawyer said it could pool in only Rs 22 lakhs. The judges directed the Trust to take reimbursement approval from the housing body before appointing a contractor and begin work under a structural engineer. "We feel that the MHADA should also make such suggestion where it is not able to bear the cost of repairs. The cost can be shared and the building can be repaired,” they noted.
At an earlier hearing of the matter, a division bench of Justices Kanade and P. D. Kode had remarked that since occupants in most baugs or residents of Parsi enclaves are not in a position to undertake extensive repairs, they should urge the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation to offer financial help, as reported in TOI on September 19, 2014. The judges felt that major corporate houses should use their trust money for the community’s benefit.