Pune: Bombay High Court Dismisses Petitions in NDA Land Dispute
Mumbai/Pune, 3rd November 2025: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a series of petitions, including two public interest litigations (PILs), seeking the cancellation of development rights granted to a private builder involved in the rehabilitation of residents from Kopare village in Pune.
The land, originally acquired during World War II and later for the establishment of the National Defence Academy (NDA), has been the subject of a long-standing dispute. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad ruled that the allegations raised—pertaining to fraud, forgery, and manipulation of land records—were issues of fact that could only be determined through a civil trial, not in a PIL.
“The allegations of forgery and manipulation of records shall be subject to scrutiny before the civil court, where both sides can present evidence. It is a well-established principle that disputes over immovable property cannot be adjudicated through writ petitions,” the bench observed in its recent order.
The land in question was first requisitioned by the British government in 1942 during the Second World War and subsequently acquired in 1951 for the NDA. To resettle the displaced families, the government allocated land at Mouje Hingane Budruk in 1961. Four decades later, in 2001, the redevelopment project was handed over to Kakade Construction Company Pvt Ltd through an agreement with the villagers.
However, in 2018, a group claiming to be descendants of the original affected families approached the court, alleging large-scale irregularities by the developer. They accused the company of manipulating land documents and failing to fulfill promises made under the rehabilitation scheme. Their plea was heard along with another petition from 2019 and two PILs filed in 2009 and 2023 by social organizations.
The bench noted that a report submitted by the Pune district collector in April 2013 showed that 315 out of 350 affected families had already been allotted housing units. The court directed the developer to ensure compliance with the report and facilitate accommodation for the remaining 35 families. Advocates Prathamesh Bhargude, Prabhakar Jadhav, and Sanjay Koban represented the petitioners, while advocate Karan Bhosale appeared for the developer. Bhosale informed the court that six of the remaining 35 families had already been offered possession.
The judges also pointed out that the rehabilitation project was nearing completion, and any drastic order at this stage would derail years of development work. “At this stage, when the project is almost complete, passing any order that would nullify the entire rehabilitation process is neither feasible nor justifiable. The petitioners have an alternate legal remedy through civil proceedings,” the court stated, dismissing the petitions as not maintainable.
