The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that all encroachments on land earmarked for a BEST bus stand in Borivali, Mumbai have been removed, a day after the Court restrained the civic body and the Maharashtra government from releasing Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide's salary over non-compliance with its directions.

Senior Advocate RP Bhatt for BMC mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana and submitted that the structures have been demolished.

“They have implemented and all structures have been erased now,” Bhatt submitted.

The CJI thanked Bhatt, remarking, “Thank you. Without your intervention it could not have occurred!”

Bhatt also apologised to the bench for having defended the BMC's conduct during Tuesday's hearing, when the Court issued a contempt notice to the Municipal Commissioner for prima facie wilful disobedience of its earlier directions.

“Personally I really owe an apology. I was defending them but now they have realised that this was wrong, my lords. I personally owe an apology to your lordships. I will file an affidavit of compliance in the course of today or tomorrow,” Bhatt said.

The Court had on Tuesday rejected the BMC's application seeking additional time to pass eviction orders against occupants of the encroached land, imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh on the civic body and restrained the release of the Commissioner's salary until compliance with its directions.

During Tuesday's hearing, the Supreme Court strongly criticised the BMC for repeatedly failing to comply with its time-bound directions issued on November 13, 2025 and July 28, 2026, for removal of encroachments from the land.

The Court observed that the civic body's conduct prima facie amounted to deliberate, mischievous and wilful disobedience of its orders. It suspected that BMC officers were protecting the encroachers in collusion with them, and were collecting 'hafta' from the encroachers.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi expressed disbelief over the reason cited by BMC for seeking extension of time for passing eviction order that it concerned officer, Dr. Praful Dinesh Tambe, did not know Marathi and required translations of documents.

The Court refused to grant even a day's extension, stating that the BMC had already been given sufficient time to comply.

Background

The dispute concerns approximately 5,800 sq m of land in Borivali, Mumbai, of which 3,400 sq m was earmarked for a BEST bus stand and administrative building. Under consent terms recorded by the Supreme Court on October 31, 2002, the Municipal Corporation was required to cooperate with Parag Construction in removing unauthorised occupants.

The dispute resurfaced after Parag Construction alleged that encroachments continued to obstruct the project. On August 13, 2025, the Supreme Court directed the developer to hand over vacant possession of the land earmarked for the bus stand to the Corporation, which was directed to complete the remaining construction and make the facility functional. The BMC was separately directed to continue efforts to remove encroachments.

On November 13, 2025, the Court directed the Municipal Commissioner to file a personal affidavit disclosing details of the occupants, eviction notices and replies, documents supporting tenancy or ownership claims, and inquiries undertaken to verify their genuineness.

On July 28, 2026, the Supreme Court directed the Corporation to remove encroachments within three months. It clarified that civil court proceedings against eviction notices issued under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, would not prevent removal of unauthorised occupants in the absence of an interim stay.