The Shimoga Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner of the City Municipal Council will have to pay for the reconstruction of a building they illegally demolished in 2010.
The High Court on Friday directed the Urban Development Department (UDD) to reconstruct the building from the salaries of the Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner, holding them guilty of misuse of powers.
Hearing a petition by one S P Sridhar, Justice Ram Mohan Reddy observed that the DC and Commissioner had misused their powers and hence had to pay for it. The UDD has to construct the building as it stood before demolition and the expense recovered from the salaries of the officials. The judge also directed the UDD to mention the incident in their service records.
During the hearing, the petitioner said he had bought a site in Ward No 20 in the Garden Area of Shimoga in 1975 and constructed a hardware store in 2010. On January 25, 2011, the DC orally informed him that the building was constructed illegally on a storm water drain. And, on February 2, 2011, the DC and the CMC commissioner arrived with officers and demolished the building without serving any notice.
When Sridhar failed to get compensation despite repeated representations, he field a petition questioning the demolition and sought action against the officials.