India, Feb. 2 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government and slum rehabilitation authorities, terming their decision to appoint a new developer for a long-stalled slum rehabilitation project in Borivali East a "gross abuse of power" and violation of the orders passed by the Supreme Court and the high Court.

A division bench of justices G.S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe said the manner in which the authorities acted had "very seriously shocked the conscience of the court", observing that the "ghost of the litigation continues to haunt the court" and demonstrates how judgments of constitutional courts can be "systematically defeated or rendered meaningless".

The court was hearing a petition filed by J...