mumbai

Lavasa case hearing deferred till March 17 PUNE: Chief judicial magistrate (CJM) N T Ghadge on Monday deferred the hearing against Lavasa Corporation and 15 others in a criminal complaint filed by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) alleging environment violations till March 17. Nine Lavasa officials filed a plea for seeking personal exemption for not remaining present before the court through their lawyers which was considered by the court. The court also considered the plea of MPCB lawyers Sadanand Deshmukh and S G Gawli for re-issuing process against five Lavasa officials as the same could not be served on them for various reasons. The lawyers said one of the suspects

Property sales have hit rock bottom in Mumbai with the latest figures showing that only 7,800 residential units were sold in October-December 2011, the lowest quarterly figure in the last two years. At its peak in the quarter beginning July 2009, it was 21,000 units. The figures, showing a steep decline in sales in the overpriced Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) real estate market, have been compiled by the real estate research agency Liases Foras. The database shows despite sluggish volumes, prices have risen by 75 per cent over the last two years from December 2009 to December 2011. Regardless of the huge pent up demand for housing, MMR is presently

New DCR push land rates down MUMBAI: The new development control rules (DCR) which restrict unabated building concessions and the amended public parking policy, which substantially curbed benefits for builders, have slowly started affecting land valuations in Mumbai. Experts said the city’s land prices, the highest in the country, are bound to fall in the months to come, but warned that flat prices would not decline. In the past few years, developers bought land at astronomical prices as these concession policies could be manipulated to offer unusually high construction rights to builders who could bribe their way through. Since 2005, some of the country’s most expensive land transactions were concluded

Mumbai: In a decision that might have an impact on realty prices in the metropolis and nearby areas, the Bombay High Court has upheld the decision of the Union Government to levy service tax on construction of flats and shops. A division bench held by Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Amjad Sayed yesterday upheld the decision of the Centre to levy service tax, saying it was legal and constitutional. Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industries (MCHI) had filed a petition challenging the decision mainly on the ground levying service tax on land and landed properties was the prerogative of the state government and therefore the Centre could not impose such