Sports
play a significant role in the development of people and nation and it is high
time the government gives it equal importance than the "commercialisation
and concretisation mantra", the Bombay High Court has said.
A
progressive state can never be oblivious of such needs of the society, a
division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Jitendra Jain on Monday.
It quashed the
Maharashtra government's 2021 decision to relinquish 20 acre land in Navi
Mumbai for a 'Government Sports Complex' and shifting it to a remote place at
Mangaon in Raigad district, 115 km from the existing site.
In
2003, the land was earmarked for the sports complex. In 2016, the planning
authority allotted a portion of it to a private developer for residential and
commercial purposes.
The
HC said the authorities are required to be alive to not only the present but
the future rights of citizens for open places, playgrounds and sports
complexes.
"We
may observe that considering the present plight of metro cities as Mumbai, Navi
Mumbai or the adjoining areas have developed further concretization and
commercial exploitation on lands earmarked for such public facilities certainly
needs to be curtailed," it said.
The
bench said the Government Sports Complex was of paramount importance to children
and youth, who form a large mass of population in urban areas, and it was
wholly against the public interest to deprive them of best sporting facilities.
"Sports
play a significant role in the development of citizens and the nation and it is
high time the government also becomes conscious of this fact. It is high time
that these issues are also considered to be of equal importance than the
commercialisation and concretisation mantra," the HC said.
The
order was passed in a public interest litigation filed by the Indian Institute
of Architects, Navi Mumbai Centre, challenging the state government's decision
to shift the sports complex from Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai to Mangaon.
The
plea also challenged the decision taken by the City and Industrial Development
Corporation Ltd (CIDCO) allotting part of the land to a private developer for
residential and commercial development.
The
court quashed the government's decision to shift the proposed sports complex
and directed the CIDCO to hand over the land to the government forthwith.
The
bench, however, stayed its order for four weeks after the CIDCO sought time to
file an appeal against it in the Supreme Court.
The
HC said the entire approach of the government and other authorities has been
nebulous to the importance which sports have achieved in modern times.
"A
progressive state can never be oblivious of such needs of the society and more
particularly, from the international perception. It ought to be the solemn
obligation of a welfare state to encourage youth and children towards sports.
This also contributes in creating a robust and healthy society," it said.
The
Maharashtra government's decision to relinquish the land in Ghansoli and shift
the proposed sports complex to a remote area in Mangaon was against the
"public interest", it added.
It
was a decision to promote commercial utilisation of the said land by making it
available for allotment to developers whose appetite for development of lands
and converting cities into "urban jungles" would remain
unparallelled, the court said.
"It
is for the government and the planners to ponder to the extent such
concretisation can be stretched, more particularly, in the absence of
supporting infrastructure and by sacrificing public amenities of utmost
necessity being made available for the future generation, like gardens,
playgrounds, recreation parks and sports complexes," it said.
The
court also wondered whether the existing concretisation is not enough and to
what extent public bodies would continue to exploit government lands for the
purpose of revenue.
There
would be gross failure on part of the government and other public bodies if
such vital issues are overlooked and/or intentionally sought to be buried in
creating urban jungles, it said.
If
these issues are not taken seriously then it would result in grave injustice
and taking away of the fundamental rights of citizens not only in the present
but also for the future, the court said.
"If
we do not have a foresight, concern and care for the future rights of the
citizens, and from all possible perspectives, we are abdicating the
constitutional principles which recognise the overall development of an
individual," it said.
The
bench said it was "unthinkable" that the land which was reserved for
the facility in 2003 can remain unutilised for 18 years.
"We
are of the clear opinion that the decision of the state government,
purportedly, relinquishing the CIDCO's land at Ghansoli, to be not utilised for
the Government Sports Complex, is brazenly illegal and arbitrary, looked at
from any angle," HC said.
The
court wondered if the authorities, who are in control of planning and
development of cities and towns, are at all conscious that the rights of the
future generation also need to be protected and accounted for.
"We are clearly of the opinion that these are fundamental rights
which are guaranteed to citizens for all times to come, to have appropriate and
better living conditions, which would include the state and the planning
authorities providing open spaces, gardens, playgrounds, which would include
government sports complexes," it said.