Case Note & Summary
The High Court of Bombay heard two public interest litigations filed by different sets of petitioners, both challenging the actions of the Maharashtra Film Stage and Cultural Development Corporation (MFSCDC), a Government of Maharashtra undertaking. The common grievance in the petitions was the execution of a Joint Venture Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding dated 24 October 2000 between MFSCDC and Mukta Arts Limited, whereby a 20-acre plot of land in the Film City complex at Goregaon, Mumbai, was agreed to be transferred to a Joint Venture Company in which MFSCDC held only a 15 percent stake. The petitioners alleged that the land transfer was effected without inviting any advertisements or tenders and that the land was drastically undervalued at Rs. 3 Crores, causing substantial loss to the public exchequer. In Writ Petition No. 1826 of 2003, the petitioners sought a writ of certiorari to quash the agreement, a mandamus to cancel all approvals and stop construction, and a direction for a high-level investigation into the transaction. In PIL No. 219 of 2009, in addition to similar reliefs regarding the Goregaon land, the petitioners challenged the allotment of 2 lakh square metres of MIDC land to Respondent No. 6, but those reliefs were not decided in the present judgment. At the admission stage of Writ Petition No. 1826 of 2003, a Division Bench passed a detailed order on 21 January 2004 declining interim relief but making it clear that all constructions and further actions would be subject to the outcome of the petition. The State Government filed an affidavit stating that the proposal would be examined strictly in accordance with law. Both petitions were heard together, and judgment was reserved on 24 November 2011 and pronounced on 9 February 2012. By this judgment, the Court finally disposed of Writ Petition No. 1826 of 2003 and prayer clauses (a) to (d) and (j) of PIL No. 219 of 2009, leaving the remaining reliefs in PIL No. 219 of 2009 to be decided separately.
Issue of Consideration
Whether the joint venture agreement dated 24 October 2000 between MFSCDC and Mukta Arts Limited for transfer of 20 acres of land without inviting tenders and at an undervaluation of Rs. 3 Crores is valid and in public interest.
