Bombay High Court

THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRAversusLT. COLONEL SHIVARAM SAWANT KHEM SAWANT BHONSALE (DECD) BY LRS. SATVASHILADEVI S. SAWANT AND ORS.

Disposal: Disposed Off

Holding

The court held that, in view of the settlement affidavits and the State’s undertaking, the second appeal is disposed of.

Summary

The State of Maharashtra sought to acquire land in Sawantwadi for a multispecialty hospital, while the heirs of the deceased Lt. Colonel Shivaram Sawant contested the claim. The parties negotiated a settlement whereby the respondents would retain 5,000 square meters of the land and relinquish the remainder to the government, subject to the outcome of pending probate matters. Affidavits filed by the respondents and the State, along with a map indicating the allotted portion, were placed on record. The State also undertook to allocate the agreed plot within six weeks. Relying on these settlement documents and the State’s undertaking, the court disposed of the second appeal and all related interim applications.

Issues considered

Whether the settlement agreement between the State and the respondents regarding the allocation of 5,000 sq m of land can be accepted by the court.
Whether the pending litigation concerning the wills and testaments of the deceased affects the validity of the settlement.
Whether the State has authority to allocate the land free of cost in the public interest.
Whether the respondents’ rights to the retained land are subject to the final outcome of the probate proceedings.

Subjects

land settlement
multispecialty hospital
government acquisition
settlement agreement
civil appeal
property rights
public interest

Judgment

5-SA-1019-06.doc

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

SECOND APPEAL NO. 1019 OF 2006
WITH
CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1298 OF 2006
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION (ST) NO. 14053 OF 2023

The State Of Maharashtra … Appellant
V/s.
Lt. Colonel Shivaram Sawant Khem
Sawant Bhonsale (Decd)
By Lrs. Satvashiladevi S. Sawant and Ors. … Respondents
___________
Mr. Shishir H. GP, a/w Mahalkshmi G, AGP a/w Anand S. AGP, for the
appellant.
Adv. Vikram Sathye (through V.C), for the respondent 1 (a) 2.
Adv. Ramdas Shelke a/w Adv. Vaishnavi Shelake i/b Adv. S.G. Deshmukh,
for the respondent 1 a (1).
Adv. Dimakh Dhari Legal Advisor Civil Surgeon office, Sindhudurg
present.
Mr. Khem Shivram Sawant (through V.C.) party in person present.
___________

CORAM : RAJESH S. PATIL, J.
DATE : 20 AUGUST 2026

P. C. :

1. The learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties jointly

submits that the second appeal can be disposed of in view of the

understanding which has been arrived at between the parties, and more

specifically as stated by respondent No. A.1, Khem Sawant Shivram

Sawant Bhonsale, in his affidavit dated 16 July 2026. Paragraph Nos. 5

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and 9 of the said affidavit are reproduced herein below:-

“(5) I say that, considering the Interest at the public at large we the Plaintiffs
are agreeable to the said proposal. We are ready to retain 50 gunthas and to
relinquish the remaining land in favour of the Appellant Government.

(9) I say that the ownership rights in respect of the property decreed by the
lower appellate court as also the property to be retained by the Plaintiffs as per
the proposal put forth by the Appellants should be subject to the final outcome
of the litigation in respect of the aforesaid to last wills and testaments executed
by Lt. Col. Shivaram Sawant Khemsawant Bhosale and Smt. Satvashiladevi
Shivaram Bhosale. It is necessary to record accordingly while recording the
settlement in this Second Appeal.”

2. An affidavit on behalf of respondent No.1-A(2), Mr. Kalakumar

Manohar Bhogle, power of attorney holder of Mrs. Shivpriyadevi

Kalakumar Bhogle, dated 28 July 2026. Paragraph Nos. 9 and 10(A), (B),

(C), (D), and (E) of the said affidavit are reproduced herein below:-

“9. I submit that pursuant to the letter dated 26" July 2023, issued by State
Government through it Revenue ministry directing the District Collector,
Sindhudurg to attempt and settle the present dispute between the parties by
signing the required Memorandum of Understanding, but the said did not
materialized. I submit that I bonafide believe and understand that there is an
urgent need of establishing a Multi-Speciality Hospital in a Sawantwadi town.

For the said reasons, I submit that I am ready to accept the terms and
conditions as mentioned in the letter dated 26t* July 2023 under the following
terms and conditions.

10. The terms and conditions which I accept for establishing a Multi-Speciality
Hospital at Sawantwadi Town on CTS Nos. 5870, 5869 & 5857 are as under:-

A) Respondent No 1A (2) accepts the proposal of retaining the land out
of CTS No 5870 equivalent to 5000 sq meters in favour of the
Respondent. I submit that the said acceptance shall be on the condition
that the names of Respondent No 1A(1) & 1A(2) shall be jointly
inserted in the Revenue Records to the extent of 50% un-divided share
each.

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B) The area of 5000 sq meters which is mentioned in red marking as per
the map Ex. C filed along with affidavit dated 23d April 2026 shall be
separated from CTS No 5870. A separate property number shall be
given to the said area and separate property extract shall be created for
the said area of 5000 sq meters which will incorporate names of
Respondent Nos.1A(1) & 1A(2) jointly to the extent of 50% of un-
divided share of each Respondent.

C) It is understood that there are standing structures over the said
proposed 5000 sq meters area which shall be allotted in favour of
Respondents. Appellants should undertake to demolish the said
structures from their own costs within the period of ... months from the
settlement of the present dispute. Till that time Respondents shall not
claim any right, title and interest over the said structures standing in the
proposed area of 5000 sq meters. This respondent assures that she will
not claim any right over the standing structures till the time and they
are demolished and will not obstruct their demolition.

D) Appellants should confirm that the proposed 5000 sq meters area
shown in Ex. Calong with affidavit dated 23d April 2026 is not in any
manner landlocked and there is sufficient access of ingress and egress
from main road.

E) Appellants should confirm that they shall not claim any access roads
or easementary rights of ingress or egress from the said 5000 sq meters
area for access to the hospital premises.”

3. The learned Government Pleader has also tendered a map of the

subject land wherein, by a red color, a portion has been marked which

would be allotted to the respondents, Khem Sawant Shivram Sawant

Bhonsale and Shivpriyadevi Kalakumar Bhogle. The said land will be

subject to the pending litigation between the parties. The map is taken on

record and marked 'X' for identification purposes. For ease of reference, a

scanned copy of the said map is reproduced herein below:-

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4. The State's affidavit is also on record dated 23 April 2026. The

additional affidavit filed by appellant No. 8, Dr. Tushar R. Chiplunkar, has

narrated the same fact about settlement. Paragraph No. 16 of the said

affidavit reads as under:-

“16. I say that, the Government of Maharashtra, considering the
larger public interest, has issued a letter dated 26/07/2023 setting out
compromise/settlement terms between the Appellants and Respondents
to the present case in respect of the proposed land for construction of a
Referral Service Hospital (Multispecialty Hospital at Sawantwadi,

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Taluka Sawantwadi, District Sindhudurg, whereby an area admeasuring
5000 square Meters (Exhibit -C - Part 2 which is highlighted in Red
colour in the PWD Map) from City Survey No. 5870 shall be allotted to
the Respondents free of cost and the remaining land shall be retained in
the name of the Government for construction of the said Referral
Service Hospital (Multispecialty Hospital); upon such allotment, the
Respondents shall not claim any right, title, or interest in the remaining
portion of the said land (Which will be retained in the name of the
Government), nor shall they claim any monetary or other compensation
in respect of the said land, and shall further undertake that, in the event
of any third-party litigation in respect thereof, the responsibility of
defending and resolving the same shall lie solely upon them.

Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit -D is the copy of the letter from
State of Maharashtra dated 26/07/2023”

5. Exhibit 'C' at page No. 22 and Exhibit 'D' at page Nos. 23 and 24 of

the said affidavit of the State are reproduced herein below.

“Exhibit 'C' :-

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Exhibit 'D' :-

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6. In view of the specific affidavits’ filed by the respondents and the

map as agreed and tendered by the State, this second appeal stands

disposed of.

7. The State, through its officer who is present in court, has

undertaken to this court that the plot of the land admeasuring 5000

square meters which has been shown in red color at page No. 22 of the

State's affidavit would be allotted to the respondents within a period of

six weeks from today. The undertaking of the State is accepted.

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8. The second appeal accordingly stands disposed of.

9. In sequel, all interim applications stand disposed of.

[RAJESH S. PATIL, J.]

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