Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, May 9: The Maharashtra government has decided to challenge a recent court order in the Supreme Court after a ruling in favour of private entities in a high-value land dispute involving nearly 254.88 acres of prime land in the Mira Bhayandar region.
Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announced that the state government will file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the April 30, 2026 judgment, which effectively cleared the way for the transfer of the disputed land to private developers.
According to the Revenue Department, the disputed land parcel located at Mouje Bhayandar in the Mira-Bhayandar region is government-owned property whose revenue records were allegedly tampered with over several decades.
Officials claimed that since 1948, unauthorised changes were made to the land records without prior approval from the state government.
Initially, the name of “Estate Investment Company” was allegedly inserted into the records, followed later by “Mira Salt Works”. Since the land was used as salt pans, the name of the Central Government’s Salt Department was also entered into the records in 1958.
The ownership dispute had earlier reached the Supreme Court, which directed that the matter be examined through an appeal process by the Thane District Collector.
Following the proceedings, the Thane District Collector in 2002 rejected the claims made by Mira Salt Company and ruled that the entire land belonged to the Maharashtra government.
However, in 2019, the companies along with the Salt Commissioner challenged the Collector’s decision before the Bombay High Court through a First Appeal.
On April 30, the High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Salt Commissioner and ruled in favour of Mira Salt Works, holding that the land belonged to the company.
The Maharashtra government has strongly objected to the verdict, arguing that the High Court decided the dispute on merits even though the appeal primarily concerned the maintainability of the proceedings.
Officials fear the judgment could enable private developer Mira Real Estate Developers to retain ownership rights over land that the government considers public property worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
“The land belongs to the state government. We will firmly crush all attempts to grab government land by tampering with revenue records,” Bawankule said.
“The Bombay High Court order effectively allows the transfer of government land to private owners. The Government of Maharashtra will challenge this order in the Supreme Court to protect public property. We will strongly defend the state's ownership rights over this valuable land,” he added.
The minister said the state’s legal strategy would rely heavily on provisions of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, particularly Section 29(3)(c), which defines the status of “Occupants - Class II” relating to long-term or perpetual lease rights over unalienated land.
The government is expected to argue that such provisions do not automatically confer ownership rights in a manner that overrides the state’s title over the land.
Legal experts believe the dispute could become one of Maharashtra’s most significant land battles due to the massive commercial value of the property situated in the rapidly developing Mira-Bhayandar belt near Mumbai.
The case is also expected to have wider implications for several historical land ownership disputes across Maharashtra, particularly those involving salt pan lands, old lease agreements and disputed revenue entries.
The Maharashtra government is likely to file the Special Leave Petition in the coming days.