The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the order of the Bombay High Court that paved the way for demolition of 17 unauthorised structures/buildings constructed on encroached land near Mumbra area under the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC).
After the SC’s nudge, the petitioner, a purchaser of one of the flats in buildings in question, who filed a special leave petition (SLP), withdrew his appeal.
The petitioner, Danish Zaheer Siddiqui, claimed that nearly 400 families were affected by the HC order.
Last week, the Bombay HC had passed an order based on plea by a senior citizen woman who claimed that her nearly five-and-half acre land in Shil Dighar area near Mumbra, which falls under TMC area, was grabbed by “land mafia or sharks” without any permission from planning authority and 17 unauthorised structures were erected on it.
The HC had on June 12 directed immediate inspection of the encroached structures by the court-appointed officer and also ordered separate inquiry into the role of errant municipal officers in aiding such constructions.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan questioned how the petitioner and others had purchased flats without due verification of land records and permissions and raised concerns over rampant unauthorised constructions and role of developers for the same.
The SC praised the High Court for taking the “right decision”.
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“See, you (petitioner) encroached on some third party’s land and built a property without taking any sanctions. There is no rule of law and please see, these are persons with underworld connections,” the SC bench orally remarked.
The SC judges also warned that continuing unauthorised structures pose danger to the cities.
“Next, your Mumbai will get encroached. That’s all that remains to be done. Please feel for your city, otherwise everything will get encroached. For once, the Bombay High Court has taken a very courageous stand,” Justice Manmohan orally remarked.
After senior advocate P D Naik representing the appellant sought permission to withdraw the SLP to approach HC with appropriate application, the SC granted the same and disposed of the plea.
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The HC bench led by Justice Girish S Kulkarni of HC had also expressed “shock” over proliferation of illegal constructions and delay in actions and had ordered TMC Commissioner to conduct a survey of all illegal structures across its wards including developing areas and green zones and act against them “before it is too late”
The bench had warned the TMC that if illegalities continue and it is unable to take action against the same, the court will have to consider whether the TMC would be required to be governed by a “different/separate machinery” under municipal laws.
