MUMBAI, May 17 -- The Bombay High Court recently refused to stay the tender process for appointing a "construction and development agency" for the redevelopment of the city's two biggest Mhada layouts in Bandra Reclamation and Adarsh Nagar, Worli, noting that the bidding process was already at an advanced stage and that technical bids were scheduled to be opened on May 20. The state government had decided to carry out cluster redevelopment of the two layouts through a single private construction and development agency instead of allowing the around 5,000 co-operative housing societies in the layouts to redevelop their buildings individually. Under the proposed model, one agency would undertake integrated redevelopment of the layouts, including infrastructure and amenities, rather than separate redevelopment projects by individual societies. A division bench of justices MS Karnik and SM Modak on May 6 declined to immediately hear pleas filed by eight co-operative housing societies from the affected Mhada layouts seeking a stay on Government Resolutions (GRs) issued on April 25, 2025 and December 15, 2025. The GRs provide for integrated redevelopment of the layouts through a bidding process for appointment of a construction and development agency. The petitioner societies challenged the GRs on the ground that they took away the societies' independent redevelopment rights and forced them into the cluster redevelopment scheme. They argued that the GRs violated their right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution and effectively divested them of their properties without due process of law. The societies contended that although the land belongs to Mhada, the buildings were constructed under valid leases that gave the societies the right to redevelop their properties. According to the petitioners, these rights were arbitrarily taken away through the cluster redevelopment policy. Seeking a stay on the tender process, the societies argued that allowing the bidding process to continue would seriously prejudice their rights. They also pointed out that the tender documents did not mention the High Income Group category even though several affected members belonged to that category. Opposing the pleas, advocate general Dr Milind Sathe submitted that the two Mhada layouts, Bandra Reclamation and Adarsh Nagar, Worli, comprise nearly 5,000 housing societies and that many of the 50-60-year-old buildings had become dilapidated. Refusing to stay the process, the court observed that no prejudice would be caused to the petitioners if the tender process was allowed to continue, especially since the award of the tender was likely to take time....