Dutt, J. - (1.) The subject-matter of this appeal by special leave is the permission for development of the land granted in favour of respondent 5 who proposed to construct a five-star hotel on a tract of land measuring 44,820.49 square yards at Bandra, Bombay, bearing R. S. Nos. 416(Part) and 417. The land in question had been purchased by respondent 5, Enjay Estates Pvt. Ltd., from its erstwhile owner, Byramji Jeejeebhoy Pvt. Ltd. In the 1966 sanctioned Development Plan of Greater Bombay, the said land was shown in the residential zone and a contiguous parcel of land measuring 18,000 sq. yds. was shown as a green belt.
(2.) With a view to developing the disputed land, respondent 5 submitted a plan to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay for the construction of a five star hotel. The Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, however, rejected the plan on the sole ground that it was proposed to earmark the said land under reference as a recreational ground with suitable internal network of roads during the revision of the development plan which was in the offing. Being aggrieved by the said rejection of the plan, respondent 5 preferred an appeal to the Government of Maharashtra under S. 47 Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'.
(3.) The appellants, who are rate-payers of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay and claim to be members of various ecological action groups, appeared in the appeal and opposed the same contending, inter alia, that the whole of the said land should be kept reserved for a green belt or recreational ground in the interest of the general public.;