Supreme Court withdraws show-cause notice against BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, lifts salary curbs

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave relief to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, withdrawing the show-cause notice issued against her. It also lifted the restrictions on payment of monthly salaries to the commissioner and her personal staff. The decision came after the civic body told the court it had taken steps to comply with the earlier directions.

The hearing was held on November 4. A day earlier, on November 3, 2026, the Supreme Court had passed an order in the matter. On Wednesday the court withdrew paragraphs 1 to 3 of that order, which ended the show-cause notice and the salary-related restrictions.

Senior Advocate R P Bhat appeared for the BMC. He told the court that the civic body had taken the necessary steps to comply with the Supreme Court's orders of November 13, 2025 and July 28, 2026. Bhat said the contempt of court situation had now been dealt with. He urged the bench to withdraw the November 3 order.

The three-judge bench was headed by the Chief Justice of India. Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana were also on the bench. The bench recorded Bhat's submission and withdrew paragraphs 1 to 3 of the November 3 order. It made clear, however, that it was expressing no opinion at this stage on how far the earlier directions had been complied with.

The court also directed the BMC Commissioner to file a personal affidavit before the next hearing, stating what steps had been taken to comply with the court's directions. It said paragraphs 5 and 6 of the November 3 order would continue to apply as before.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the BMC carried out an action in Borivali. The civic body removed 27 commercial structures from a plot reserved for a bus station in Mumbai. The action came right after the day the Supreme Court had ordered the civic body chief's salary to be withheld for non-compliance with directions.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the BMC said the land is on Swami Vivekananda Road in Borivali East, in the western suburbs, and that the encroachments there had been cleared.