Mumbai News: Jain Community Protests BMC Demolition Of 90-Year-Old Vile Parle Temple, Alleges Action Taken Before HC Appeal Could Be Heard

The Jain community from across the country has expressed resentment after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished a Jain temple in Vile Parle on Wednesday. While the civic body claimed that it had served enough notices to the temple before demolition, the temple’s managing committee has alleged that the BMC rushed to action even after the civil court’s oral stay order.

The managing committee of the 90-year-old bungalow-style Jain chaitalaya, a house temple, located in the premises of Neminath Cooperative Housing Society in Vile Parle (E) had moved the city civil court against BMC’s notice to demolish the temple built upon a reserved plot for a recreational ground (RG). Although the court dismissed the petition on April 8, it granted an oral stay against demolition to allow the temple to file an appeal in the High Court.

However, BMC carried out the demolition of the temple on Wednesday morning, which led to an altercation between the civic officials and the members of the Jain community, who tried to prevent the demolition but could not succeed due to heavy police bandobast. The temple authority claimed that the devotees were forced out of the temple while the officials climbed upon the idols and threw the religious literature on the roads.

While the temple trust alleged that the BMC carried out the demolition before the High Court could hear the appeal, the BMC claimed that the High Court had rejected the temple’s appeal on Tuesday. “The temple was built illegally and the ward office had served notice thrice regarding the demolition in 2015, 2020 and in December 2024. However, the temple trust approached the Bombay High Court on April 15 seeking a stay order, but the court rejected the petition. Accordingly, the property was demolished on April 16,” said a BMC official.

On the other hand, Anil Shah, a trustee of the temple said, “The BMC did not wait for the court’s detailed order and rushed to demolish the temple as soon as they got to know that we were about to file an appeal in the High Court. I requested the ward officer to wait for an hour until the court’s hearing but he did not agree. The temple has been forcefully and illegally demolished.”

Various Jain organisations from across the country have expressed resentment over BMC’s act. The community also held a meeting on Thursday evening at another Jain temple in Vile Parle to discuss the issue and plan its further course of action, which was attended by more than 500 people.

The temple is claimed to be operational since 1935 but was subjected to a legal dispute soon after it was renovated in 1998. The society had earlier moved to the High Court demanding the temple’s demolition but the temple claimed that BMC had itself reflected that the structure cannot be demolished since it stand there from before the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act 1966 was implemented. However, a new round of legal battle started in 2022 after the society’s builder urged the BMC to shift the RG reservation from the temple land on the request of the temple authority, but did not succeed due to the society’s objection.