SC stays High Court order allowing Garuda Parks to challenge stop work notice

 

 

The Supreme Court of India has stayed the Bombay High Court’s order that allowed Garuda Amusement Parks Pvt Ltd to seek a personal hearing before the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) regarding the revocation of a ‘Stop Work Order’ issued in June 2023. A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta admitted a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by residents Vyankatrao Chaudhary, Ashok Dongre and Bharat Jawade, who challenged the legality of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court’s judgement in Writ Petition No 1307/2025. The Supreme Court has issued notices to the State Government, MTDC and Garuda Amusement Parks Pvt Ltd, and has ordered a complete stay on the High Court’s judgement that directed MTDC to grant a hearing to the private contractor.

 

According to the petitioners, Garuda Amusement Parks Pvt Ltd had originally filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court at Mumbai (WP No 14497/23) and challenged the stop work order dated June 19, 2023. That petition was dismissed as withdrawn on November 12, 2024. Later, the same company approached the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court with identical prayers and grounds - an act the petitioners claim amounts to bench hunting and violates the principles of res judicata and constructive res judicata. The petitioners have argued that the Nagpur Bench lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, citing Clause 38.1 of the concession agreement dated November 30, 2019. According to this clause, all disputes must be resolved under the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court. The residents allege that this crucial fact was not disclosed to the Nagpur Bench by any of the respondents which led to an allegedly unlawful order.

 

The controversy stems from a concession agreement signed between MTDC and Garuda Amusement Parks Pvt Ltd in 2019 for a large-scale tourism development project under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer (DBFOT) model. The project, covering approximately 44 acres of land in Ambazari Garden, has been strongly opposed by local residents and environmental activists. One of the flashpoints in the dispute was the demolition of the historical Dr Ambedkar Sanskrutik Bhavan on June 8, 2021, allegedly without the required permission from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), and during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

This demolition triggered public outrage and led to the formation of an Inquiry Committee headed by the Divisional Commissioner, which recommended halting all ongoing work at the site. Subsequently, MTDC issued a Stop Work Order on June 19, 2023. The petitioners have also filed Public Interest Litigation (PIL No 03/2025) before the Bombay High Court at Nagpur, challenging various Government orders related to the project, including the change of land use under Section 37-A of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966. They argue that allowing the project to continue would cause irreversible damage to the ecological balance and heritage value of the Ambazari Garden area. Advocate Dr Tushar Mandlekar, assisted by Advocate Astha Sharma (AOR) and Advocate Anju Thomas, represented the petitioners before the Supreme Court.