BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which was filed by a Jabalpur based advocate over the ongoing demolition drive of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
While dismissing the petition filed by local advocate Amitabha Gupta, a division bench of the MP High Court's principal bench comprising chief justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held on Wednesday, "On considering the contentions and the pleadings, we are of the considered view that it may not be appropriate to entertain this petition as a public interest litigation. Even if the case of the petitioner is to be accepted that certain houses of certain persons have been demolished, necessarily those persons have a legal right to defend themselves and their properties in a manner known to law."
"We do not see any nexus with the petitioner and the persons whose properties have been demolished. Therefore, it is for those persons to appropriately move the court for necessary order as they deem fit. We do not find any reason to entertain this petition on behalf of the present petitioner. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed," the HC held in the order passed on Wednesday.
The Jabalpur based advocate, through the petition, sought directions from the HC to the government to bring records of the cases wherein the state police has demolished houses or other structures belonging to the accused/suspect without authority of law. In the petition, the petitioner had also sought directions from the HC to the state government and the police not to take any such action as complained in the body of the petition without the authority of law.
Further, the petitioner advocate had sought any other directions that the HC deemed fit for instilling faith and confidence among the general public about the rule of law.
Reacting to the HC's dismissal of the petition, the state's home minister Narottam Mishra said, "The HC's verdict has put its affirmative seal on the action being initiated against the illegal properties and encroachments of land sharks and rioters. The action initiated by the government is in accordance with law and not targeted against any particular group."
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government is facing flak from the opposition Congress, Muslim outfits as well as rights bodies over the recent bulldozing of "illegal properties and encroachments" in the communal violence hit Khargone and Sendhwa town of state's Malwa-Nimar region. Opponents of the ongoing demolition drive have accused the government of targeting the Muslim community through the encroachment removal.
According to the state government, since April 2020 (when the BJP returned to power after 15-months rule of Congress), encroachments and illegal possessions have been removed from 15,397 acres of public land worth Rs 11,941 crores across the state. Out of this, 2243.79 acres of public land worth Rs 671 crores has been freed from encroachments between January 1, 2022 and March 31, 2022.
The CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that the freed land will be used for building houses for the poorer sections.