The 63-year-old, who fought the case on his own, is thrilled that BMC officials have been fined by the court; intends to continue fighting to ensure more stringent punishment
In a real life case of David versus Goliath, a 63-year-old Mulund resident has emerged triumphant after 20 years of battling the BMC over the wrongful demolition of his balcony in 1995. The Mulund Metropolitan court has ordered a penalty of Rs 20,000 on two officials who were then the BMC engineers who carried out the demolition.
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Dhiraj Morarji Vala (63) shows his balcony that was demolished by the BMC in 1995. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
“A long fight has brought me this victory, but there is still a long way to go,” said Dhiraj Morarji Vala, who now intends to move a higher court over the issue for more stringent action against the accused.
The two officials who were fined by the court are Dilip Karwir (the then sub-engineer) and Suryakant Garude (the then assistant engineer). “They had demolished my balcony wall based on a false complaint by shop owners on the ground floor of the Vardhaman Nagar Co-operative Housing Society. They demolished my property without even showing me the demolition order. I tried to explain that I had a status quo from the court but all went unheard. I suspect the shop owners had wanted to use my terrace for their benefits and were hand-in-glove with these officials,” Vala alleged.
Conspiracy
Vala had investigated the matter and discovered that the shop owners had filed a complaint stating that he had constructed an illegal bridge between two buildings for access to his terrace. Vala denied this allegation and pointed out that he had made no changes to the structure after purchasing the flat and moving in there in 1993.
Vala added, “I tried to present the building plan and the purchase agreement, but it was overlooked and they damaged my property.”
In June 1997, Vala moved the Mulund court against the damages done to his property and the legal battle case went on for over 19 years before the court delivered its judgment on July 29. Levying fines on the officials under Section 427 of the IPC, the judge observed, “The accused failed to prove that their act was justified by the law. Hence, it is held that the accused caused damage to the passage of the complainant with an intention to cause wrongful loss to the complainant.”
Long legal battle
But the last 20 years have hardly been easy. Vala fought the legal case on his own, taking advice from some of his lawyer friends.
“Hearings were put off or delayed several times because the engineers would not be present or because I had struggle to source documents through RTI applications.”
Vindication
To Vala, while this is vindication for his two-decade struggle, it has also encouraged him to take the matter forward. “Now I have made up my mind to fight ahead, against others who were also involved in the demolition. There was a police officer who had snatched my camera when I tied to click the pictures of the demolition drive. The matter against him is still pending. There are two more cases that are still sub-judice, hence, I cannot comment on them,” he added.
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