1984 (9) TMI 302

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....are the owners of a petrol station at Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli. It is serviced by 3 underground mild steel petrol tanks. The capacity of each tank is 2,000 gallons. They are embedded in the ground. They are at some distance from the petrol station. Petrol is stored in these tanks and serviced to the petrol station for being put into the customers' vehicles. Originally the petrol station was away from the regular line of the street. On 17th October 1977 the Municipal Corporation drew a new regular line of the street. It was entitled to do so under the Act and there after compulsorily take away certain lands falling within the new regular line. On the 17th April 1980 the Corporation issued a notice to the appellants under section 299 ....

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....cisions relied on by Mr. Andhyarujina must be tested in the light of section 299 and certain other provisions of the Act. Sub-section (1), in so far as is material, empowers the Commissioner to take possession, after giving the requisite notice (in this case the impugned notice), of land which lies within the regular line of a public street and "is not occupied by a building, or if a platform, verandah, step or some other structure external to a building abutting on a public street or a portion of a platform, verandah, step or other such structure is within the regular line of such street." Section 3(s) defines "building" as under :-- "building includes a house, out-house, stable, shed, hut and every other such structure, whether o....

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....ven a drainage-pipe protected say by a metal sheath could also be equated as "building". The result would be ludicrous. 8. Mr. Andhyarujin says if these tanks are shifted from their present locations, they would have to be moved within limits of the petrol pump which the rules do not permit. This by itself shows that the tanks are capable of being shifted. A structure cannot be shifted. It must be demolished. The very fact that on the appellants' own showing (and rightly so) their 3tanks are capable of being shifted, must militate from their contention that their 3 tanks are "building". They are not. Relative hardship caused to the appellants cannot be a ground to undo an act done by the Corporation for public weal. 9. What also m....