Yashwant Anna Bhoir v. State Of Maharashtra Through Its Principal Secretary And ORS.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 7404 OF 2024 Yashwant Anna Bhoir ....Petitioner

Versus

State of Maharashtra & Ors.

....Respondents ---- Mr. Avinash Fatnagare a/w Ms. Archana Shelar, Advocate for the Petitioner.

Mrs. M.P. Thakur, AGP, for the Respondent-State. Mr. R.V. Govilkar, Senior Advocate, i/b. Mr. Dinesh Adsule a/w Mr. Chinmay Bhole, Advocate for Respondent No.4.

Mr. Sumedh S. Modak i/b. Mr. Vijay Killedar, Advocate for Respondent No.5.

Mr. Shanay Shah, Amicus Curiae is present.

Mr. Angad Morane, Assistant Town Planner of Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal Council is present.

---- CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE & ABHAY J. MANTRI, JJ.

DATE : 10th FEBRUARY, 2026 P.C. :- 1.

Pursuant to our order dated 28th January, 2026, the District Collector has taken over the Chairmanship of the High Court Constituted Committee (HCCC). A meeting of the HCCC was held on 4th February, 2026.

2.

In view of our directions set out in Paragraph Nos.6 and 7 of the order dated 28th January, 2026, the concerned Officer from the District Collector's office has again faltered. Despite the e-mail address having been conveyed to the said Office, the concerned Officer has made a mistake in one alphabet, and as a result, the report of the HCCC, which was to be served on the learned Amicus, has again not been served. We could have directed the District Collector to initiate strict action against the concerned person, who was entrusted with the task of sending the e-mail with the report to the learned Amicus. However, now that the mistake is noticed, we are only expecting the District Collector to give a warning letter to the concerned person, namely, Mr. Sagar Yadav, Revenue Assistant. 3.

We have perused the report of the HCCC dated 9th February, 2026 (5 pages), authored by Dr. Shrikrishna Panchal, the District Collector of Thane. The said report dated 9th February, 2026 (5 pages), the Preliminary Independent Report dated 10th February, 2026 (7 pages), and the three photographs, are taken on record and collectively marked as 'X-3' for identification. 4.

We find that the District Collector has indeed taken

efforts in the light of our earlier order. He has given us a clear picture in the minutes, and as to what is required to be done. He has also tendered a Preliminary Independent Report dated 10th February, 2026. The learned Amicus is right in pointing out certain aspects under Clauses 3, 4, 5 and 8, and the suggestion of the District Collector as to who needs to be included in the HCCC. 5.

The learned Amicus has placed before us a Profile of Prof. Dr. Anil Kumar Dikshit, who is presently a Professor in the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Powai, Mumbai. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Systems Engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. His thesis for M. Tech Civil Engineering is of 1987. The Profile and the research publications of Prof. Dikshit are extremely impressive. The said Profile is taken on record and marked as 'Y-2' for identification. 6.

The learned Amicus submits that he would be interacting with Prof. Dikshit at the earliest, for taking his consent to be a part of the HCCC as a Subject Expert. Thereafter, we would take the assistance of the District Collector in reconstituting the

HCCC so that the Committee is assisted by experts in the relevant fields in order to cure the problem faced by the Municipal Council. We, however, caution the Municipal Council that we would not tolerate any complacency on their part, and we expect the Council to be diligent, alert, and proactive to ensure that any further discharge into the Ulhas River will have to be prevented and controlled. 7.

We are informed that the next meeting of the HCCC is scheduled on 24th February, 2026. The report has to be generated latest by 27th February, 2026, with a copy of the report being served instantaneously on the learned Amicus.

8.

List this Petition for further consideration on 5th March, 2026, at 03:00 pm.

(ABHAY J. MANTRI, J.) (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J.)