A 77-year-old woman is on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation’s dilly-dallying attitude towards the demolition of a drama stage which had illegally come up on her ancestral property in Morva village near Bhayandar. The senior citizen-Jayshree Prabhakar Mhatre and her family members have been running from pillar to post for the past several years to get justice.
Notably, an influential contractor attached to the MBMC is said to be involved in the scam related to the land on which the MBMC constructed the drama stage in 2004. Based on the complaint filed by Mhatre, the Bhayandar police have booked the contractor and his son for cheating and forging documents. However, neither have the police arrested the duo, nor has the civic administration demolished the structure, leaving the senior citizen with no other option to launch an agitation against the authorities.
When contacted Executive PWD Engineer, Deepak Khambit said, “Based on demands by local villagers and elected representatives, the structure was built in 2004. The stage has been and continues to be used by villagers for the past 17 years. Citing provisions of articles mentioned in the Limitation Act, 1963, we have intimated the complainant about our inability to take action against the public amenity.
” Article 65 to Schedule I of the Limitation Act, 1963 prescribes a timeline of 12 years, within which an aggrieved person may file a suit for recovery of possession of immovable property, failing which the person extinguishes his right to file a suit for recovery of possession.
