Clearing the decks for redevelopment of one of the MIG Colonies in Bandra (East), the Bombay high court termed as “illegal and arbitrary” a condition imposed by the BMC that the developer sign agreements with each of the 176 families living in the 19 buildings in the colony. On Tuesday, a division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla struck down the clause saying that it could not be a condition for granting commencement certificate for the project. “We find that the redevelopment of the land, which is beneficial to the middle-income group, would be stalled if such a condition is imposed,” said the judges. “The members of the MIG societies have vacated their existing premises, which have been handed over to the developer. We also find that 100% of the members of the society have granted consent for redevelopment of the said land. The redevelopment process has accordingly commenced,” said the judges. The BMC sought to justify the clause saying it was meant to protect existing flat owners’ rights. The developer, though, pointed out that agreements had been signed with the society about the flats and other amenities that will be provided to existing flat owners in the new project. “The imposition of such a condition is not in the interest of the occupants and members of the society who will be getting flats in the new structures, which are being redeveloped in lieu of the existing flats owned. We find that the (rights of the) members of the society are secured,” the judges added. The MIG societies that comprise around 84 buildings and are spread over 15 acres in Bandra (East) were built by Mhada in the early 1960s. The present redevelopment project concerned 19 buildings and 176 families that owned flats in the structures spread over 24,000 square metres of land, which were to be redeveloped by MIG (Bandra) Realtors and Builders Pvt Ltd. The society decided to go in for redevelopment in 2010. In 2013, the BMC gave its approval but sought compliance with the condition that the builder sign agreements with each of the flat owners. In 2015, all 176 families vacated their premises but the BMC refused to waive the condition. In an interim order, in 2016, the court allowed the BMC to process the application for commencement certificate without insisting on the contentious condition. The developer said the condition was in violation of Development Control Regulations. The flat owners would get flats and over 500 parking spaces.