The Bombay High Court has refused to accede to the request made by a petitioner seeking that the Mumbai Chief Fire Officer (CFO) be restrained from exercising his discretion to grant no-objection certificates (NOCs) as an interim measure while permitting construction of buildings in the city. The Maharashtra government said it would take two to two-and-a-half months to implement the fire safety regulations on buildings vulnerable to man-made disasters.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Abha Singh seeking enforcement of the 2009 draft special rules and regulations for fire safety in buildings vulnerable to man-made disasters. The regulations were issued in 2009 following the terror attacks in the city on November 26, 2008.
Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan filed an affidavit, which stated that the Maharashtra government on March 15 issued a notice that was published in the state government gazette to add a new provision, 56A, for special safety control regulations for buildings vulnerable to man-made disasters in the Development Control and Promotion Regulation (DCPR), for Greater Mumbai
Chavan stated that the notice was published to invite objections and suggestions from the people over the proposed modification as per statutory procedure and that objections from all over Maharashtra were received for the same. She added that it would take about two to two-and-a-half months to complete the procedure and issue the notification.
The bench specified that it should be completed in two months.
In the meantime, advocate Aditya Pratap, appearing for Singh, submitted he was seeking interim relief as there were multiple instances where the CFO had granted NOCs and reduced open spaces to less than five feet between buildings, putting the lives of people at risk.
Pratap alleged that the builders’ interest was paramount to the CFO. The bench directed the CFO to personally reply to the allegations levelled by Pratap and said it would deal with the interim plea only after the finalisation of the fire safety regulations by the state government.
