It a major setback for the Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered a stay on the construction of a metro car shed project at the 102 acre of salt pan land in Mumbai's Kanjurmarg area. ALSO READ | Metro Car Shed To Be Relocated To Kanjurmarg; Cases Against Protesters Withdrawn: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray


Hearing a petition filed by the Centre, which has claimed the land belonged to it, the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni restrained the authorities from carrying out any construction work at said site and asked the Shiv Sena-led government to wait for its orders.

The High Court's decision has come amid a heated tussle between the Centre and the Shiv Sena-led MVA government over ownership of the land earmarked by the state for constructing the car depot which was earlier planned at Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon.

Metro Car Shed To Be Relocated To Kanjurmarg: CM Uddhav Thackeray


Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in October this year announced that the metro car shed project will be shifted from Aarey Colony to Kanjurmarg in Mumbai. Addressing the state through a webcast Thackeray had said that the government has decided to shift the project to a government land in Kanjurmarg. Thackeray said no cost will be incurred for the purpose and the land will be available at zero rate.

"We have allotted government land for the car shed for Rs 0. We won’t spend a single rupee for acquiring this land," CM Uddhav Thackeray said. He had also directed the withdrawal of all police cases filed against Aarey protesters who tried to stop the authorities from cutting down the trees.

'They have fallen flat on their face': BJP Reacts


However, today's decision by the court has brought a massive jolt to the Maharashtra government. Reacting to the development, BJP leader Atul Bhatkhalkar said the metro car shed project had been transferred to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony, a prominent green lung of the city, by the Shiv Sena-led government with the only motive to "settle a political score with the BJP".

Another BJP leader and former MP Kirit Somaiya also reacted saying "The Bombay High Court''s order has come as no surprise to us. The site is under ownership dispute, but the Thackeray government refused to pay heed to the facts and pushed the Metro-3 car-shed project ahead (in Kanjurmarg) only to settle a political with the BJP. They have fallen flat on their face."

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(With inputs from PTI news agency)