Overview

• On July 1, the Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V Marne dismissed all public interest litigations challenging the mayor’s bungalow conversion.
• The court ruled the conversion a policy decision not subject to judicial review, finding no gross planning violations in the government’s process.
• The memorial project received clearances from the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee and Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and complied with a green-zone-to-residential rezoning under the MRTP Act.
• Maharashtra leased the 1928-built bungalow to the Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Trust at a nominal rate of Re 1 per annum, with trustees including Shiv Sena leaders, Thackeray family members, senior bureaucrats and municipal officials.
• Architect Abha Lambah oversaw restoration of the heritage structure and integrated the memorial underground, preserving the original bungalow’s facade.