Supreme Court Pauses Mumbai Civic Body Chief's Salary Over Encroachments

Failure to comply with express directions to eliminate encroachments on government land has landed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Ashwini Bhide in legal soup, with the Supreme Court issuing a contempt notice, pausing her salary and imposing a cost of Rs 5 lakh, besides making strongly worded observations on the body's alleged connivance with encroachers.

The court found that her failure to comply with its earlier directions to remove encroachments from land earmarked for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus stand was a "wilful breach and disobedience of time-bound directions" that it had issued on November 13, 2025, and July 28, 2026.

The court asked Bhide, through the notice, why it should not initiate contempt proceedings against her.

The three-judge bench also rejected the BMC's request for an additional 30 days to complete the task. It said the civic body must comply with the court's earlier directions before seeking further relief.

The bench has restrained the BMC and the Maharashtra government from releasing the monthly salary to the commissioner or her personal staff.

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In its oral remarks, the court flagged a "complete, deliberate, mischievous breach of the directions", which is in connivance with the encroachers.

The court also said that the municipal authorities are protecting encroachers by not complying with its directions.

A plot of land in Mumbai's Borivali was earmarked for a bus stand. The BMC and a private developer had fought a protracted legal battle for the possession of the land.

In August 2025, the court ordered the developer to surrender 3,400 square metres of land, including an administrative building, to the corporation for the bus stand.

It ordered the BMC to take over the project and make the bus stand functional within three months.

In November 2025, after the encroachment wasn't cleared, the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the civic body's inaction.

On July 28 this year, the Supreme Court again directed the corporation to complete the work and remove the encroachments within three months.

On Tuesday, the court directed the officer not to draw her salary until the project is completed.