India, Aug. 17 -- The Bombay High Court has freed 36,662.43 square metres (sqm) of land in Thane from reservation under the Development Plan (DP) for a park, police station and mass transit system, saying authorities cannot keep private land under reservation indefinitely without acquiring it or taking the relevant steps within the prescribed timeframe.

"The property rights of owners cannot be kept in abeyance indefinitely by labelling the land as reserved land. Depriving landowners to use property or enjoy the financial benefits arising out of the use and development of the property cannot be indefinitely postponed under the garb of acquisition or reservation of land," a division bench of justices MS Karnik and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale...