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3. As the documents show, the eastern side of the plot boundary crosses over a DP Road and a Freeway. There are Government plots on three sides, to the north-east, east and south.. The proposal by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority ("MMRDA") represented by Mr Kadam is to construct the DP Road and Freeway along the western edge of this plot.

4. But that is not really Neelam's primary worry. Paragraph 5 of the Petition tells us why Neelam has come to Court. We resist the temptation to reproduce that paragraph because the first sentence of that paragraph runs over 13 printed lines without a break and with embarrassingly little punctuation. Essentially, what Neelam wants is that none of the authorities, i.e., SRA, MMRDA, or the Government should do anything at all in regard to the slum redevelopment by Neelam on this plot.

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6. Neelam is alarmed by three things. The first are Minutes of a Meeting at page 101. This meeting was held by MMRDA. The Minutes are dated 26th September 2023. The meeting was chaired by the MMRDA Commissioner. The entire focus of the meeting seems to have been an extension of the Eastern Freeway. Neelam was represented. The gist is set out and an earlier proposed part of the Freeway was to be substituted with an extension. Paragraph 3 of the Minutes tells us that it was desirable to explore the feasibility of the Eastern Freeway proposal along the Ramabai Nagar, that is the site in question. It notes the existence of a large number of structures affecting the alignment namely the slums. Neelam's representative said that the slum clearance could be done if permission was granted for the entire land. There were some numbers discussed in regard to Project Affected Person ("PAP") housing and slum housing. Clause 9 of the Minutes said that for the road construction, Neelam would need to vacate the land affected. MMRDA was said to be in an advanced stage of tendering.

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8. Neelam's second worry is the document at Exhibit 'W,' called an RFP or Request for Proposal, for a term loan for what MMRDA describes as the Ramabai Redevelopment Project. This is a notice inviting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) or in principle sanction for a rupee-denominated loan of Rs 4000 crores to the MMRDA for the development of the slum rehabilitation project.

13. Mr Chinoy and Mr Seervai for the Petitioners maintain that this is nothing but an attempt to hijack the slum redevelopment which is on a private plot without the due process of law and without the authority of law. The Petitioners' valuable development rights are not only adversely affected but are likely to be extinguished if MMRDA is allowed to continue. Mr Chinoy submits once the property is part of a slum project, no authority can simply override the settled rights of a developer under a slum rehabilitation scheme for which an LOI has been issued. If the slums are on private lands, the rights cannot be extinguished simply by a takeover of the slum redevelopment. The Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance And Redevelopment) Act 1971 ("Slums Act") itself has important safeguards and inter alia allows a private owner a preferential right to develop before any other developer or 12th March 2024 910-OSWP-488-2024+F.DOC authority is brought in. The issuance of the brochure and its wide publicity and circulation and the RFP for finance all point in one direction, that is to say, a threatened or anticipated takeover action by MMRDA working with the State Government and the SRA.