A failure to comply with express directions to eliminate encroachments on government land has landed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide in legal soup, with the Supreme Court issuing a contempt notice, pausing her salary and imposing a cost of Rs 5 lakh, besides making strongly worded observations on the body’s alleged connivance with encroachers.
The court asked Bhide, through the notice, why it should not initiate contempt proceedings against her. The three-judge bench also rejected the BMC’s request for an additional 30 days to complete the task.
Issuing the notice to the IAS officer, the court found that her failure to comply with its earlier directions to remove encroachments from land earmarked for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus stand was a “wilful breach and disobedience of time-bound directions” that it had issued on November 13, 2025, and July 28, 2026. It said the civic body must comply with the court’s earlier directions before seeking further relief. In its oral remarks, the court flagged a “complete, deliberate, mischievous breach of the directions”, which is in connivance with the encroachers. The court also said that the municipal authorities are protecting encroachers by not complying with its directions.
