Mumbai, May 6 The Bombay High Court has said no objection certificate (NOC) for constructions near defence establishments cannot be insisted belatedly while ordering authorities to issue an occupancy certificate to two residential buildings located in the vicinity of INS Trata here.
Insistence of NOC from defence officials requires an appropriate non-arbitrary, fair and reasonable approach by the authorities concerned strictly as per the requirement of law, a bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe noted in a May 5 ruling, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday.
The bench observed that if the defence's argument regarding security concerns and threat perception in reality has any basis, all steps, which the law would warrant, are required to be taken at the very beginning of any construction activity (near military establishments).
"There cannot be a casual approach in such matters and more particularly, like in the present case, where construction has progressed substantially in accordance with the sanctioned plans and the permission granted by the planning authority," the HC maintained.
The Constitution under Article 300A guarantees the right to property and such right cannot be infringed or prejudiced in a manner not recognised by law, it insisted.
The HC allowed the petition filed by Techno Freshworld LLP, developers of the Prabhadevi Indraprastha Cooperative Housing Society (which has two residential buildings), at Worli in central Mumbai, challenging the October 2025 stop work notice issued to them as they did not have the mandatory NOC from the naval authorities.
As per the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the NOC was mandatory as the buildings were located in the vicinity of INS Trata, a naval installation in central Mumbai.
The petition also challenged the refusal by the MHADA to issue the buildings an Occupancy Certificate (OC).
The bench held that the insistence of NOC on part of the naval authorities in regard to the petitioner's construction was "illegal, invalid and unjustified."
The action of MHADA in granting a commencement certificate (CC) to the petitioner from time to time, permitting completion of the entire construction by the petitioner, was legal and valid, the HC stated.
The bench further held that the petitioner's buildings were situated beyond the prescribed norms and hence no NOC was required.
The court held that the October 2025 stop work notice and communication issued to the petitioner, rejecting their application for issuance of an OC on the ground that they had not obtained NOC from the naval authorities, are "arbitrary and illegal."
The petitioner claimed that one of its buildings, that housed the original 72 tenants, was already completed and the second structure was at its fag end of construction.
It pointed out that the state-run MHADA has been, from time to time, issuing commencement certificates and granting necessary permission for construction of the twin buildings.
The court, in its judgment, opined that it was incumbent on the defence authorities, in consultation with the planning authorities, to adopt a realistic and legally sustainable approach to situations which are realistically objectionable in law.
It added that a large number of buildings, some of which have been constructed without obtaining an NOC, already exist near INS Trata.
"We are of the opinion that the requirement of an NOC cannot be selectively insisted/foisted by the naval authorities," the court remarked.
