Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed civic chief Bhushan Gagrani to personally file an affidavit to back the civic body’s claim in a dispute over charges to be paid to NSCI (National Sports Club of India), Worli, for ground utilised during the Covid-19 pandemic for a jumbo quarantine centre. A division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri sought the affidavit after noting the stand taken by BMC was that it did not use the area around the jumbo quarantine centre and that an assistant commissioner made “an erroneous calculation”.The club said BMC used its open ground area for 30 months during the pandemic and petitioned the HC last year over non-payment of charges under an April 2020 circular.There was a huge difference between what the club said the BMC owed it and what the BMC said it did. The HC, on January 21, said that since it lacked the expertise, it wished to refer the case to a reputed chartered accountant to assess the payment due to NSCI from BMC. However, BMC counsel sought time to consult the civic chief on the issue.On January 28, the BMC took a stand that it never used the open area. The HC said, “We need an affidavit to be filed personally by the commissioner of the municipal corporation”, who arrived at a figure of Rs 12.6 crore over the jumbo centre by applying a particular formula, which the HC was not apprised of, and excluded the open area around the quarantine centre.The HC posted the matter to February 11 for further hearing and orders and directed the commissioner to explain by February 6 the formula used in the calculation and whether the BMC did not use “even an inch of land outside” the jumbo centre. If he said that was so, he would have to explain where the medical gas pipeline system, compressors, vacuum pumps and oxygen gas pipelines, PSA plant, HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning), MGPS (medical gas pipeline system) systems and LMO (liquefied medical oxygen) tanks were installed to ensure the jumbo quarantine centre was utilised in the best possible manner.
