NEW DELHI: Lauding the Bombay High Court’s “courageous” stand, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the High Court order directing the demolition of 17 structures built illegally on green zones in Maharashtra’s Thane.
On June 12, the Bombay High Court said any unauthorised construction would be required to be demolished.
Challenging the order, Danish Zaheer Siddiqui has moved to the top court. The top court, while declining his request, asked him to appeal to the high court for review and relief.
A two-judge vacation bench of the top court, headed by Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manohan, referred to the Bombay High Court’s explicit finding that the underworld was involved in illegal constructions, happening in collusion with municipal bodies.
While refusing to hear Siddiqui’s appeal, the top court said, “Please feel for your city. Otherwise, everything will be encroached upon. Next, your Bombay will be encroached upon. That’s all that remains to be done. Please feel for your city. Otherwise, everything will be encroached upon. For once, the Bombay High Court has taken a very courageous stand, and we appreciate it.”
Appreciating the high court’s order, the top court bench said, “Kudos to the high court for taking the right decision. See, you encroached on some third party’s land and built a property without obtaining any permits or sanctions. There is no rule of law, and please see, these are persons with underworld connections.”
The bench further observed that the construction was undertaken without any permission from the planning authority and that, too, by occupying land belonging to a third party.
The apex court said the illegal construction could not have been brought to light had an innocent woman not come forward, claiming that her land was occupied and buildings had been constructed on it.
Siddiqui claimed that out of the 17 buildings, eight had been demolished, rendering a minimum of 400 families homeless. He claimed to be one of the purchasers of a flat in one of the 17 buildings and argued that the high court issued a “carte blanche” (blank document) direction, empowering the Thane Municipal Corporation to proceed with demolition without awaiting any further orders.
The top court, however, said, “We express no opinion in the matter. After hearing the matter for some time, the senior counsel (for Siddiqui) seeks liberty to withdraw the application and with liberty to approach the High Court.”
Also in top court
Interim stay on Thane dargah demolition
The Court on Tuesday ordered a week’s status quo on the demolition of a dargah in Thane. The bench directed an interim stay of seven days on anti-encroachment exercises and ordered the dargah trust to move Bombay High Court for recall of the order directing demolition of the structure. The Court was hearing a plea by the trust against the March 10 HC order, directing demolition.