Litigation Update: Bombay HC Strikes Down Arbitrary Slum Acquisition

This case concerns a recent decision dated 14 October 2025 by the Bombay High Court in the case of NESCO Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., wherein Justices G.S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe set aside the State's acquisition of NESCO's private land in Goregaon (East) under Section 14 of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 (“Slum Act”). The Hon'ble Court held the acquisition arbitrary and unconstitutional, reaffirming that a private landowner has a preferential statutory right to redevelop its slum-affected land and cannot be dispossessed unless that right is first exhausted. Click here for the full Order

Brief Facts

NESCO owned about 1,500 sq.m. of private land that was later declared a Slum Rehabilitation Area under Section 3C(1). In 2009, a slum-dwellers' society requested acquisition of the land under Section 14(1), alleging neglect by the owner. Despite NESCO not being served proper notice or given an opportunity to