India, April 18 -- The Bombay high court (HC) has dismissed a plea by a developer seeking to forcibly evict tenants from a building in Sion under the guise of arbitration, stating that protected tenancy rights cannot be overridden through interim relief.

Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan ruled that the matter must be addressed under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act and not through "shortcuts" like arbitration, which cannot be used to bypass statutory protections.

The case involved SJK Buildcon LLP, which had signed a redevelopment agreement on February 12, 2024, with landlords Kusum Pandurang Keni and Ninad Ajay Keni to redevelop Keni House, a building constructed in 1962 and located in Sion West. Of the 22 tenements in the building, 18 are...