Orissa HC allows razing of sector-13 community hall, but stresses due process be followed
CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Abasika Sangha of sector-13, CDA, Cuttack, challenging the Cuttack Development Authority’s (CDA) move to demolish a community hall constructed on government land. The court, however, directed that no demolition can be carried out without due process and opportunity of hearing.
The order, passed on October 30 by Justice SK Panigrahi, came in a writ petition where the residents’ association sought to restrain the CDA from demolishing the hall, to regularise its construction, and to ensure that “no coercive action is taken without due notice and hearing.”
The petitioner, a registered residents’ welfare society formed in 2015, claimed that the CDA had identified about 0.02 decimal of land for community use, and that residents had constructed the hall with their own funds. The society stated that official inquiries confirmed the land was Abadajogya Anabadi (government land not objectionable for settlement), and that it had been in continuous community use for several years.
However the CDA, in its counter affidavit, maintained that the land “is undisputedly government property” and that the petitioner “has no ownership, leasehold, or legal right to construct or occupy the site.” The Authority argued the land was reserved for a Kalyan Mandap and parking area for public use, and that an alternative site had already been identified for the sector-13 community centre.
Justice Panigrahi observed that the petitioner “has no title, lease or statutory sanction for the hall,” and that “mere identification of land for community purposes in a zonal plan does not confer any proprietary or possessory right”.
He noted that even assuming the society’s 2021 applications invoked the deemed permission clause under section 16(8) of the Odisha Development Authorities Act, “no lease or allotment was executed”, leaving only “a bare licence to construct”.
At the same time, the court emphasised that “even a trespasser cannot be evicted without notice and an opportunity to be heard.” Finding that the CDA’s demolition announcement in April 2023 was “issued without any prior hearing”, the court held that “the CDA should first have issued a formal eviction notice or show-cause, affording the society a hearing and time to respond.” The court further dismissed the petition “on merits”, holding that the petitioner had no vested right over the land. However, it directed that the CDA “may proceed to remove the structure, but only by strictly following the law”.
