The Supreme Court has withdrawn its show-cause contempt notice against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and lifted the restrictions on payment of monthly salaries to her and her personal staff, after the civic administration reported compliance with the court's earlier directions on clearing the Borivali BEST bus-station plot. The decision was taken at a hearing on Wednesday, November 4, a day after the same bench had ordered the salary freeze over alleged non-compliance.

Source: Urban Acres

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, withdrew parts of paragraphs 1 to 3 of its November 3 order, setting aside the show-cause notice and the salary-related restrictions. Senior advocate R. P. Bhatt, appearing for the BMC, told the court the civic body had taken the steps needed to comply with directions issued on November 13, 2025 and July 28, 2026, and requested that the November 3 order be withdrawn. The court clarified that it was not expressing any opinion at this stage on the extent of the BMC's compliance, and that paragraphs 5 and 6 of the November 3 order will remain in force. Bhide has been directed to file a personal affidavit setting out the compliance steps before the next hearing.

From salary freeze to relief in 24 hours

On Tuesday, November 3, the bench had rejected the BMC's plea for 30 more days to act, imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh on the civic body, restrained the release of the Commissioner's salary until compliance, and issued the contempt show-cause notice, observing that the BMC's conduct prima facie amounted to deliberate and wilful disobedience of its time-bound directions of November 13, 2025 and July 28, 2026 for removing encroachments from the land.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

Hours later, on the morning of November 4, the BMC's R-Central ward removed 27 commercial structures from the roughly 3,400-square-metre plot on Swami Vivekanand Road in Borivali East, reserved for a BEST bus station under Town Planning Scheme-II, in an operation carried out with about 70 workers and employees. Mentioning the matter before the bench the same day, Bhatt submitted, “They have implemented and all structures have been erased now,” apologised to the court for having defended the BMC's conduct a day earlier, and undertook to file an affidavit of compliance.

Source: Live Law

The dispute concerns about 5,800 square metres of land in Borivali, of which 3,400 square metres were earmarked for a BEST bus stand and administrative building. Under consent terms recorded by the Supreme Court on October 31, 2002, the Municipal Corporation was required to cooperate with the developer, Parag Construction, in removing unauthorised occupants; on August 13, 2025, the court directed the developer to hand over vacant possession of the bus-stand land to the Corporation and asked the BMC to complete the remaining construction and make the facility functional. What happens next will be decided at the next hearing, where the court will assess Bhide's personal affidavit and the compliance details placed before it.