Case Note & Summary
The writ petition was filed by the trustees of Jamsetjee Nesserwanjee Petit Institute, a public charitable trust and society, concerning the J.N. Petit Institute building, a Grade IIA heritage structure on D.N. Road, Fort, Mumbai. The building, constructed in 1898 in Neo-Gothic Revival style, housed a reading room and library with rare books and manuscripts, and had received the UNESCO Award of Distinction for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2015. The petitioners opposed aspects of the Mumbai Metro Line III alignment along D.N. Road due to the risk to heritage structures. The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee initially objected but later reluctantly agreed after assurances that only the tunnelling method would be used and no station at Hutatma Chowk would be constructed using cut-and-cover. Contractors sought the petitioners' no-objection certificate for pre-construction survey and monitoring. Petitioners provided structural drawings and highlighted the building's shallow foundation. L&T's letter of 6 March 2017 assured monitoring and responsibility for damage. Petitioners found the survey report deficient. A meeting was held on 26 April 2017 under the auspices of the Heritage Mile Association, where the MMRCL director denied risk and refused to provide written assurances on compensation. On 25 May 2017, digging commenced with barricades blocking the view, without monitoring instruments. Vibrations were felt, requests were made, and on 25 August 2017 a limestone finial fell from the building into the garden. The petition was filed seeking relief, but the excerpt ends before the prayers and the court's reasoning. The excerpt does not contain any explicitly framed issues of law, and no respondents' arguments were included. The court's analysis and final decision are not available from the provided text.
Issue of Consideration
WRIT PETITION NO. 2931 OF 2018
Case Details
2025 LawText (BOM) (07) 129
Writ Petition No. 2931 of 2018
M.S. Sonak, Jitendra Jain
Ms Ferzana Behramkamdin, Ms Kalyani Deshmukh, Ms Manisha Gawde, Ms. Kavita N. Solunke, Mr Mayur Khandeparkar, Ms Heenal Wadhava
Mr D.V.M Patel and Mr Homa Petit
State of Maharashtra through Government Pleader, Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited, Sir Dinshaw Manockjee Petit Vth Baronet
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Nature of Litigation
Writ petition concerning protection of a Grade IIA heritage building from potential damage due to Mumbai Metro Line III construction activities.
Remedy Sought
Petitioners sought safeguards against damage from metro construction, including installation of vibration monitoring instruments and prevention of unmonitored drilling near the heritage building.
Filing Reason
Commencement of digging and drilling activities by MMRCL and contractors without installation of monitoring instruments, causing vibrations, and eventual dislodging of a limestone finial from the heritage building on 25 August 2017.
Judgment Excerpts
This building features various ornamental, decorative, and distinctive elements, including a circular staircase tower, bouquets, finials, and tower turrets that shape its silhouette.
The immediate cause of action for instituting this Petition was that the MMRCL and its contractors, like L&T, commenced digging activities on or about 25 May 2017 along the stretch of D.N.Road from Siddharth College to the Petitioners’ building after blocking the access to the Petitioners’ building from the road.
Despite their protests and expression of their genuine apprehensions, the callous and negligent attitude of the Respondents in continuing with unmonitored drilling and construction activities within a distance of less than 2 to 3 feet from the Petitioners building and other heritage structures along D.N.Road finally resulted in an Architectural ornamental and decorative feature of the Petitioners’ building on the North Side viz. a 'limestone finial' getting dislodged and falling in the Petitioners Garden Ground on the morning of 25 August, 2017.
Acts & Sections
- Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950:
- Societies Registration Act, 1860:
- Companies Act, 1956:
