'Alice Would Have Been Curiouser If...': Bombay HC Explores Inequalities of Mumbai Through Judgement

The Bombay High Court has recently made an attempt to bring out the plight and emotions of millions of Mumbai residents in a three-page concurring judgement by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta. The Chief Justice, in his observation regarding building collapses, sought to record the struggles of people living in Mumbai when it comes to basic amenities and housing.

Datta, in his  concurring opinion referred to literary examples to show the unequal lifestyles of the rich and the poor in Mumbai. “In Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice in Wonderland”, Alice was so surprised after entering the rabbit hole that she exclaimed “curiouser, curiouser”. Although ‘curiouser’ is no part of English vocabulary, Alice’s utter surprise was sought to be highlighted by the author by preferring an unconventional ‘curiouser’ to the grammatically correct ‘more curious’,” he noted.

” Alice would have certainly exclaimed “curiouser, curiouser”, had she descended in this wonder city, Mumbai, and noticed the stark urban inequalities resulting from the exceedingly sharp contrast between the wealthy and the poor, the opulent and the frugal,” he said.

The Chief Justice observed that the difference of wealth between the rich and the poor has resulted in stark inequalities in the city.

“While the affluent enjoy lavish life-styles and show-off their new expensive acquisitions, the whole lot struggling day long for securing their daily share of meal lack proper housing facilities and even the basic of civic amenities,” he said.

“The gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” is so pronounced that no matter whatever welfare measures are thought of by social, political and economic reforms, it may not be possible in the near future to achieve even a token equality,” he added.

Justice GS Kulkarni, the second judge of the bench, gave the lead judgement in the suo motu PIL registered by the Bombay HC to address the issue of illegal construction and dilapidated buildings in Mumbai.

In the concurring judgement, Justice Datta also explored the reasons for the huge slum population in Mumbai, stating that this may be a result of a huge migrant population. He hit out at the municipal corporation for not taking adequate steps to plan developments and invest in affordable housing projects despite having funds.

“The annual budget of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai is more than several midsized States of India. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to assume that sufficient financial resources are at its disposal, and one would have expected the Government and the Corporation, whoever was at their helm, to adequately plan development by making appropriate budgetary provisions for affordable housing projects for the not so fortunate working class of people living in slums,” the judge noted.

He stated that there was a vicious nexus involving high profile personalities, bureaucrats, builders and slum lords to enable the richer sections.

“In the garb of legislation, in a novel manner, a fraction of the population including holders of public offices have continued to prosper by achieving their goals through impure means which are nothing short of betrayal of the trust that the people of this region have reposed in those responsible for an able governance,” the judgement noted.

Justice Datta in his judgement also ordered the civic and municipal authorities to take “ameliorative measures” to prevent recurring incidents of building collapses leading to untimely and unnecessary deaths.

“We part with the hope and trust that the respondents, remaining alive to the duty cast upon them by law, would not precipitate any further cause of action and thereby necessitate the intervention of this Court with more stringent directions,” he said in his concluding remark.

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