Supreme Court issues contempt notice to BMC chief Ashwini Bhide over Borivali BEST depot, fines BMC Rs 5 lakh

The Supreme Court has taken a stern view of the failure to clear encroachments from land reserved for a BEST bus depot in Borivali. The court issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It said two of its orders had not been complied with, and reprimanded the commissioner on that count.

The court rejected the commissioner's application seeking more time and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the BMC. It also ordered that the salaries of the commissioner and the officials concerned be withheld until the contempt case is decided. The BMC had argued that translating Marathi documents into English took time. The court did not accept this.

The court took all these steps at the hearing on November 3, 2026. They are a stay on payment of salaries to the commissioner and her staff, a Rs 5 lakh fine on the BMC, and the rejection of the BMC's plea for 30 more days to remove the encroachments.

The BMC and a private developer have been engaged in a legal battle for several years over the site of the BEST bus depot in Borivali. A plot had been reserved there for a public BEST bus depot, but the two sides ended up in court over its possession and use.

In August 2025, the Supreme Court gave important directions in the matter. It had clearly said that the private developer should hand over vacant and peaceful possession of the plot to the BMC. The developer was also asked to hand over possession of the administrative building on the land to the BMC.

The court had then given the BMC three months. In that period the BMC was to take possession of the site, remove the remaining encroachments through due legal process, and ensure that the BEST bus depot became fully operational.

However, despite the three-month window, the encroachments had not been fully cleared from the land by November 2025. The Supreme Court had expressed displeasure at the BMC's functioning at that time too.

The matter is no longer only a dispute over ownership of the land. Even after getting the site from the developer, the responsibility for clearing the encroachments and starting the depot rests with the BMC. The site has been obtained, but the question of removing encroachments and starting the depot remains unresolved.