MUMBAI, Aug. 21 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday made way for the redevelopment of Khernagar Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society in Bandra East, which had been in limbo for around 14 years due to disputes over the appointment of the developer. A division bench comprising chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice Sandeep Marne disposed of a plea filed by Huges Real Estate Developers LLP, the initially appointed developer for the project, and said, "When rights of residents of dilapidated buildings to reside in safe houses is pitted against the rights of the developer to earn profits through redevelopment contracts, the latter must yield to the former at least when it comes to consideration of grant of temporary injunction." A dispute between the society and Huges Developers over the 2011 redevelopment project arose in 2022, when the society members demanded extra carpet area. Accordingly, Hughes offered an enhanced RERA carpet area of 520 sq ft, which was 36 sq ft more than was promised under the 2011 development agreement, and also a Rs.9 lakh compensation to each society member. Dissatisfied with this, the housing society abruptly terminated Huges' development agreement and the power of attorney in January 2023. Kumar Vibes Properties Private Ltd was appointed as the new developer in September 2023. Huges challenged this termination before a civil court and also sought an injunction against the society from appointing any other developer. In October 2024, the civil court refused to grant the temporary injunction. However, it upheld the tender document's condition requiring Kumar Vibes to obtain a no-objection certificate from Huges Developers before being appointed as the new developer. As the tender conditions already secured the developer's rights, the court found no need to halt the redevelopment process. Hughes Developers then approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the civil court order. Although the high court agreed with the arrangement that allows redevelopment to continue by protecting the rights of Huges Developers to some extent, it disagreed that an NOC from the old developer was necessary to proceed. "Redevelopment of buildings is undertaken by societies mostly because the buildings are in bad shape and need to be pulled down. Therefore, the timely completion of reconstruction assumes importance. Therefore, while considering the issue of grant of temporary injunction to restrain a housing society from proceeding ahead with reconstruction of its building, this vital aspect needs to be borne in mind," said the bench. The court allowed Kumar Vibes to carry out the redevelopment on the condition that the society and Kumar deposit Rs.5 crore as compensation for damages that Huges might be entitled to if it succeeds before the civil court....