Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed the joint charity commissioner (JCC) to decide within six months on a new proposal for the redevelopment of the over-century-old Jewish school on St Mary Road, Mazgaon. Considering a revised offer is made by developer Siddharth Greenacres Pvt Ltd to Sir Elly Kadoorie School Trust, Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe on Monday modified a Dec 2011 order, and remanded the matter to the JCC “to consider the aforesaid revised offer, if it is in the best interests of the trust.” The HC was hearing appeals by the trust, 24 tenants of a chawl and the developer against its Dec 2011 order.In 2007, BMC declared the school building dangerous and beyond repair. In Nov 2008, the trustees resolved to redevelop the property. They finalised a developer and the then JCC in May 2010 granted sanction for redevelopment. Two persons, including a nominated trustee, filed a petition in HC challenging the JCC’s order saying there are no compelling reason to alienate the property considering a donation offer of Rs 4.5 crore by businessman Sir Michael Kadoorie, who runs the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, for the repair and redevelopment of the school named after his grandfather. In Dec 2011, the HC’s single judge quashed and set aside the JCC’s order, noting suppression of the donation offer and that the trustees did not follow a transparent process. He remanded the matter for reconsideration and directed the JCC to invite fresh bids. Hearing the appeals in Feb 2012, the HC division bench directed that a status quo be maintained. On Monday, senior advocates Sharan Jagtiani and Naushad Engineer, for the trust and the developer respectively, informed that there is a revised redevelopment offer. Advocate Gauraj Shah, for the original petitioners, said the JCC has to adjudicate whether it is in the best interest. The judges asked the parties to draw up minutes of the consent order. The developer committed to paying Rs 12 crore monetary benefit, including Rs 5 crore corpus fund and Rs 1 crore towards advance/arrears of rent. The new school building with all amenities will be constructed on 56,000 sq ft.Taking note of “consensus arrived among contesting parties” as set out in “minutes of the order” by which disputes are intended to be resolved between them, the HC, in the interest of justice, modified the Dec 2011 order and directed the parties to appear before the JCC on March 25.
