Bombay High Court shuts down Kandivali mall for violations

The Bombay High Court has ordered the immediate closure of Growel's 101 mall located in Kandivali East. The court found that the mall was built and operated without the necessary environmental clearances. The court criticized the company, Grauer and Weil (India) Limited, which challenged an earlier order from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). The MPCB had directed the closure of the mall on March 5, 2024. The court emphasized that legal and environmental obligations must come before commercial interests. Ayush Agarwal, the company's lawyer, argued that closure should not have been ordered because the mall's construction had applied for an amnesty scheme in 2016. He claimed the MPCB's order was unjustified and lacked urgency. However, the state’s lawyer, Milind More, defended the closure, stating that the mall had been built without proper permissions. The judges, M S Sonak and Jitendra Jain, questioned the validity of the company’s application for the amnesty scheme. They noted that this scheme should not allow for profit at the expense of environmental concerns. The court expressed seriousness about the environmental violations and rejected the notion that the MPCB could only act in cases of extreme urgency. The judges indicated that the company assumed it was above the law by operating without the necessary clearances. They ordered that the mall be closed immediately and commented that there would be no costs imposed on the company, hoping it would not repeat such actions in the future. The bench instructed the MPCB to enforce the closure order promptly.