1/5 27 WP 2110-16.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 2110 of 2016 Indus Towers Limited .. Petitioner Versus Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and ors .. Respondents … Mr.Rahul Sharda with Ms.Jahnvi Pandey i/b D.H. Law Associate for the petitioner. Mr.Tejesh Dande with Bharat Gadhavi for respondent nos.1 to 4 Smt. M.P. Thakur, AGP for the State. CORAM : BHARATI DANGRE & MANJUSHA DESHPANDE, JJ DATED : 17th JUNE, 2026. P.C:- 1. Indus Towers Limited, a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, and involved in the business of establishment, maintenance and provisions of telecommunications, infrastructure and assets including mobile towers for the purpose of granting the same on lease/rent basis to various telecom service providers, since, it had obtained registration as infrastructure provider from the Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. Tilak 2/5 27 WP 2110-16.doc In the wake of the policy of the Government of India, to allow private operators to provide basic and cellular telecommunication and paging services, the State of Maharashtra issued directions permitting construction of telecommunication base stations comprising of number of antennas and electronic equipment in a semi permanent structure to be constructed on rooftops. 2. In the year 1999, Government of India issued its new Telecom Policy and issued notifications by invoking the power available to it under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 permitting the private cellular telephone service operators to place and maintain telephone lines and posts under, along or upon property subject to the consent of the owner and on paying compensation for the damage sustained. 3. The petitioner Company which was formed in the year 2008, filed an application with Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, seeking permission to set up cellular communication sites and since the permission was granted, the petitioner continued with its activity. The petitioner however, received a notice from respondent no.1, pursuant to certain complaints being made from the local residents, regarding the site and a hearing was scheduled. The petitioner responded to the notice and also attended the hearing, categorically staking its stand that the requisite documents are already in place and have been forwarded to the Corporation, but no response is received. Tilak 3/5 27 WP 2110-16.doc The petitioner agitated its grievance by filing a representation before the Addl. Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and while the Appeal was pending, a notice u/s. 54 of the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, was received by the petitioner on the premise that the petitioner has not made any application to the Town Planning Department in respect of the site and it purported to declare the site as illegal and directed the petitioner to remove it within a period of 24 hours. 4. In fact, the respondent no.3 i.e. the Ward Officer even attempted to remove some of the equipments at the cellular site of the petitioner which constrained the petitioner to approach this Court and a protection was granted in its favour by order dated 17/2/2016, by holding that the action of dismantling of the mobile tower is in breach of the order of 21/8/2014 passed in Writ Petition No. 6555/2014. By way of ad-interim relief, the petitioner was permitted to restore the cellular site at Ashwini building as on 12/2/2016. The petition is pending since then. 5. The learned counsel for the petitioner would invite our attention to the change in the regime upon the enactment of the Telecommunication Act, 2023, a special statute enacted for consolidating the laws relating to the development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services and telecommunication networks, assignment of spectrum etc. Tilak 4/5 27 WP 2110-16.doc The special statute intended to cover telecommunication services has defined various terms including telecommunication equipments, telecommunication identifier, telecommunication network etc. It contemplate the authorisation from the Central Government in order to provide telecommunication services or even to establish, operate, maintain or extend the existing telecommunication network. The Special Statute also contain a specific provision for installation of the telecommunication network on public property and has specifically provided for the permission to be sought from an Officer authorized by Central Government to take any coercive action including a forcible shutdown is taken against a telecommunication network established by an authorized identity. Not only this, the statute has also provided a special dispute resolution Mechanism in Section 18. 6. With the new regime in operation, we are informed that the petitioner has secured the necessary approvals from the competent authority and its structure still continue to stand on the subject site. With the passage of time, the ground on which the action was sought to be taken against the petitioner no longer survive and moreover, now since the new regime is in operation whatever action is contemplated, it shall be governed by the provisions of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. Tilak 5/5 27 WP 2110-16.doc In the wake of the above, by continuing the interim order and permitting the structure of the petitioner standing on the site covered in the petition, we dispose of the Writ Petition. Needless to state that the petitioner as well as the respondent authorities shall be bound by the provisions of the Telecommunication Act, 2023 in the future dealings. (MANJUSHA DESHPANDE, J) (BHARATI DANGRE, J.) Tilak