CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court (HC) has directed the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to pay compensation to one Janmejaya Kar for demolition of his house under the Ekamra Kshetra Amenities and Monuments Revival Action Plan.
Kar had approached the HC against forcible demolition of his house without following due process of law and paying compensation to him under the rehabilitation and resettlement policy.
In a counter-affidavit, the BMC claimed that the petitioner had constructed his house on a disputed land which is owned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
“As far as payment of compensation is concerned, the petitioner “may be eligible to get it as per the R&R policy subject to approval of ASI. As for the value of the structure (residential house), the process is on for paying compensation to the petitioner,” the BMC said.
Taking BMC submission into consideration, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Biswajit Mohanty said, “The only direction that is required to be issued in the present writ petition is for the BMC to complete the process of determining the compensation payable to the petitioner for the demolished structure and pay such compensation to him not later than April 5, 2021”.