The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to establish a memorial for Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray at the site of the old Mayor’s bungalow in Shivaji Park, Dadar, affirming that the move involved no legal or procedural violations.
A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne ruled that the government’s policy decision to allot the bungalow for the Balasaheb Thackeray Rashtriya Smarak Memorial was lawful, with due compliance under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP Act) and environmental regulations. The court also observed that the project had received clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), as the site falls under CRZ-II.
Petitions filed in 2017 had objected to the conversion of the bungalow—historically a public amenity and gymkhana—arguing that its change of land use from ‘Green Zone’ to ‘Residential’ under the Development Plan 2034 was arbitrary, unlawful, and lacked public consultation. Senior counsels Sunip Sen and Dr Uday Warunjikar argued that the allocation of ₹100 crore for the memorial was excessive and that the process was marred by irregularities.
However, the court rejected these arguments, stating that land use decisions and memorial constructions fall within the policy domain of the government and that judicial review was unwarranted in the absence of illegality or procedural lapses. The bench further noted that the land continues to belong to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which has leased it for 30 years to a public trust at a nominal ₹1 per annum.
“The choice of land and formation of the trust are matters of government policy. No procedural impropriety in the re-zoning has been demonstrated,” the court said, adding that the memorial construction was almost complete and had not compromised the heritage value of the bungalow.
Stressing the public sentiment behind the project, government counsel Jyoti Chavan defended the move as a tribute to Bal Thackeray’s significant contributions to the state’s political and social landscape.
With no violations found in the state’s approach or environmental compliance, the court concluded there was no merit in the petitions and dismissed them accordingly.
