MUMBAI: The Supreme Court this week dismissed a plea by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) against a February judgment of the Bombay High Court that permitted a high rise in a slum rehabilitation project in ‘Laldonger’ Chembur.
The Bombay High Court directed the AAI to issue a no objection certificate (NOC) for height clearance to builders, noting that an appellate committee had already approved the height, and it could not be reversed over minor discrepancies in undertakings and certificates.
Aggrieved by the High Court order, AAI went to the Supreme Court to appeal. The Supreme Court on April 7 dismissed AAI’s special leave petition. The Supreme Court bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said, “We are not inclined to interfere” with the High Court judgment.
The project has 10 proposed towers, four rehab buildings to accommodate 700 slum dwellers, and three free sale towers. Two rehab buildings were constructed up to 15 floors and two free sale buildings up to 14 floors, the High Court was told.

Three builders – Paradigm Dotom Buildheights LLP, Jai Bhagwati Developers & Builders, and RK Madhani & Co – executed a joint venture in 2010 to carry out the slum rehabilitation project on a 3.3-acre Chembur plot. Last year, the builders petitioned the High Court against AAI’s order asking for a fresh application based on rules that came into existence in 2020.
The developers said they sought a height nod from AAI and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) for construction up to 84.92 metres above mean sea level (AMSL), which was approved in 2016 by an appellate panel of the civil aviation ministry subject to an undertaking. They undertook to abide by ‘risk mitigation measures’, including notifying the airport operator before construction penetrates the ‘obstacle limitation surface’.
The AAI in its special leave petition said if the High Court judgment is not set aside, it would face great hardship. It stated that a revised NOC for height clearance could not be issued given that “considerable time had lapsed” and the height clearance request needs to be “reassessed” under present rules.
The High Court divisiob bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Advait Sethna in its February 17 judgment said the AAI decision was “too pedantic”, given that the height was approved by the Appellate Committee on July 11, 2016.
“Merely because the petitioners (builders) failed to provide the name of the signatory on the undertaking and the addresses of the witnesses who only signed the undertaking furnished by the petitioners to the AAI, such ministerial lapse cannot be held to dis-entitle them from the benefits of the revised NOC,” the High Court held.
The builders cannot be categorised as fresh applicants for “minor lapses” to bring them under the new norms requiring a fresh aeronautical study, the High Court said.