Supreme Court Fines BMC and Freezes Commissioner's Salary

The Supreme Court of India imposed a ₹5 lakh fine on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and ordered the withholding of November salaries for Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and his personal staff. The penalties followed the civic body's failure to remove encroachments from a 3,400 square meter plot on Swami Vivekananda Road in Borivali East, which was reserved for a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus station.

During a hearing on November 3, 2026, Chief Justice Surya Kant and a two-judge bench characterized the BMC's inaction as a wilful breach of time-bound directions issued in November 2025 and July 2026. The court rejected a request for a 30-day extension and dismissed the BMC's claim that officials required English translations of Marathi documents. The bench suggested the municipal body may have colluded with encroachers and warned that officials could face imprisonment if they continued to evade the orders.

Following the initiation of contempt proceedings and the salary freeze, the BMC's R Central Ward conducted an enforcement drive on November 4, 2026. The operation removed 27 commercial structures from the site. The BMC subsequently informed the court that all encroachments had been cleared and the land was vacated.