K.SUKUMARAN, J. - (1.) What the case is about : Malabar Hill of Bombay is well-known all over the world and for very long time. Bombay's general transformation into a nineteenth century urban metropolis did not spoil it much. A guide-book of 1865 remarks : "The drive from Malabar Hill to Chowpatty along the foot of the cliffs is very pretty. The steep banks are covered with foliage ..............." Even by 1982, that area, by and large, preserved its earlier form. That was how someone who had taken pains to study the history and geography of Bombay felt. He stated : "Today that, atleast, has not changed. There is still a shanty-town there, clinging tenaciously to some of the most valuable land in the world............". (See, Gillian Tindall - 'City of gold', 1982, page 243)
(2.) This litigation concerns that most valuable land. 'Rocky Hill' is an enclave in Malabar Hill. Some area is occupied by the flats constructed therein. They are inhabited by Judges and Ministers, mostly by Judges. The land has been in possession of the Public Works Department from 1909 onwards. In the prosaics of the Revenue Department, it is an area comprised in City Survey No. 211 of Malabar Hill Division.
(3.) There are two Writ Petitions, one on behalf of an applicant who runs a small school 'Balkalyani' for young children in a plot in that very area (Writ Petition No. 2085 of 1989), and the other by 'Save Bombay Committee'- a public interest group (Writ Petition No. 1754 of 1989).;