MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that it had deposited a token amount of ₹12.66 crore, along with 5% interest per annum, as directed in connection with its dispute with the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) over compensation for using its premises as a Jumbo Covid Quarantine Centre during the pandemic.
A division bench of justices M S Karnik and S M Modak noted the BMC’s submissions and allowed NSCI to file an affidavit to withdraw the amount within two weeks. However, it clarified that the matter regarding compensation for the additional 18,205.42 square metres of open land belonging to NSCI will be heard after six weeks.
The NSCI had approached the court, through advocate Vivek Kantawala, seeking nearly ₹40 crore in compensation from the BMC for using its facilities as a Covid quarantine centre for 30 months between April 2020 and September 2022. The request was made in reference to a circular published by the BMC in April 2020, which said that private premises used for emergencies would be compensated.
In November 2025, the BMC submitted that it would calculate the dues payable to NSCI and prepare a chart by December of that year. Along with premises measuring roughly 23,116.63 square metres, including the SVP stadium sports complex and the Dome arena, the civic body had said it had also used an additional 18,205.42 square metres of open land belonging to NSCI.
However, the BMC later denied using any of the additional areas and has excluded them from its compensation calculations. On January 28, senior advocate Atul Damle, appearing for BMC, told the court that it had not used the area outside the quarantine portion along with the open area around the constructed Covid centre.
Noting the “erroneous” calculation, a division bench of justices Ravindra V Ghuge and Abhay J Mantri had earlier directed the BMC commissioner to clarify the formula the civic body had used to arrive at the ₹12.66 crore compensation figure. The BMC replied that it was based on the total built-up area of over 23,000 square meters at a stamp duty ready reckoner rate of 1%.
Subsequently, on February 11, the BMC “painstakingly tried to persuade the court to accept its conclusion” in arriving at the ₹12.66 crore figure as a token payment of compensation, as against the calculations made by NSCI. Accordingly, the court had directed the civic body to deposit the amount, along with an interest of 5% per annum, before March 16.