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Bombay HC Denies Extension as Willingdon Heights Residents Hit Aug. 27 Vacate Deadline

The civic body plans to seal the upper floors for missing mandatory occupancy and fire clearances despite a new fire compliance letter.

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Mumbai, India - Aug. 25, 2025: Residents of Willingdon Heights hold placard while sitting out Chief Fire Officer Office at Byculla, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, August 25, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)
Mumbai, India - Aug. 26, 2025: Namita Shivhare, a resident of Willingdon Heights in Tardeo, faces an emotional dilemma this Ganpati festival. With BMC ordering the building’s evacuation after a court directive, she has halted her usual decorations and wonders whether to welcome Ganpati into her home, as every year, or shift the celebration to the building lobby. For Namita, the three-day festival is a tradition of devotion and joy—now shadowed by uncertainty, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Overview

  • An alternate Bombay High Court bench on Tuesday rejected a fresh interim plea from residents of floors 17–34 seeking more time to stay.
  • The BMC said residents must lock and report vacated flats by Wednesday and warned it will use police protection to seal premises from Thursday.
  • Residents obtained a Mumbai Fire Brigade compliance letter on August 25 after joint inspections on August 14, 18 and 25, but it is not a formal fire NOC required for an OC.
  • The fire brigade’s report records one pending item related to a Fire & Life Safety Audit awaiting appointment by the Director, Maharashtra Fire Services.
  • Residents say they spent about Rs 3 crore in a month on safety upgrades and had earlier given a written undertaking to vacate by August 27 after the Supreme Court declined to intervene.