Himachal Pradesh High Court
Uday Panwar vs . State Of H.P. on 15 May, 2023
Bench: Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Virender Singh
Uday Panwar vs. State of H.P. .
CWPIL No. 20 of 2021 15.05.2023 Present: Court on its own motion.
Mr. Anup Rattan, A.G with Mr. Ramakant Sharma, Addl. A.G, Ms. Sharmila Patila, Addl. A.G and Mr. Rajat Chauhan, Law Officer for the respondents-State.
Mr. Naresh K. Gupta, Advocate for respondent No.4.
r None for respondent No.5.
The letter addressed by one Udit Panwar was treated as public interest litigation and registered as such.
2. The grievance, as reflected in the letter, was that one Pushkar Dutt Joshi, resident of Joshi Niwas, Kasumpati, Shimla was carrying out unauthorized construction over the Government land adjoining Joshi Niwas, Kasumpati, Shimla. No permission had been sought from any of the authorities.
3. Notice of the petition was issued and subsequently, said Pushak Dutt Joshi was also arrayed as a party respondent No. 5 and issued notice.
4. After service, respondent No.5 initially appeared through Mr. Rakesh Thakur, Advocate, as is evident from perusal of order sheet dated 04.10.2021.
Thereafter, he failed to put in appearance either on 05.04.2023 and for that matter even today, when the case was called.
::: Downloaded on - 16/05/2023 20:34:54 :::CIS5. The Municipal Corporation, Shimla has placed .
on record the status report, which goes to indicate that despite repeated notices, respondent No.5 has not cared to stop the illegal construction and rather he has added more unauthorized area to the already constructed area at the site on the first floor of the building. This clearly goes to show that respondent No.5 is head strong person, who has no respect for the rule of law.
6. r It is apt to reproduce the relevant observations from the status report, which reads thus:-
As per available record the complaints were received vide dy. No. 2409/Mukhya/21 dated 03.08.2021 and 1618/Comm/21 dated 16.08.2021 qua the alleged violation of respondent. Accordingly site got visited by the concerned official and notice under section 254(1) of HPMC Act, 1994 was issued to respondent for carrying out unauthorized construction without prior permission of the competent authority and respondent was further directed to produce the reference of sanction w.r.t construction carried out at site. The respondent failed to produce the reference of sanction w.r.t construction carried out at site, hence notice u/s 254(6) and 253 r/w 242 of HPMC Act, 1994 was issued vide notice No. 44 dated 01.09.2021 clearly indicating the violation so committed by him.
Further the site has jointly visited along with the Architect Planner MC Shimla on 25.04.2023. The joint site inspection reveals that the respondent has added more unauthorized area to the already taken place unauthorized construction at site at first floor of building in question. The measured area of unauthorized construction is presently 145.04 sqm which is more than that of area mentioned in the notice issued u/s 254(6) & 253 r/w 242 of HPMC Act 1994, as 101.38 sqm. Hence revised notice u/s 254(6) & 253 r/w 242 of HPMC Act 1994 vide notice No. 39 dated 04.05.2023 has been issued to respondent for addition of more unauthorized area despite pendency of the case.
The action stands already taken on the complaint filed by the complainant and appropriate proceeding against violator has been initiated. The case is fixed for hearing on 06.05.2023 before the Court of Ld. Commissioner MC Shimla and action as per provisions of HPMC Act, 1994 shall be taken against the violator.
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intentionally not put in appearance before the Court, therefore, this Court is left with no other option but to direct the Municipal Corporation, Shimla to carry out demolition of the entire unauthorized construction raised by respondent No.5 forthwith and thereafter recover the expenses incurred on demolition from respondent No.5 and file compliance report on 22nd May, 2023.
8. r The District Adminstration is directed to provide all necessary assistance to the Corporation so as to ensure that the orders passed by this Court are complied with in its letter and spirit.
( Tarlok Singh Chauhan )
Acting Chief Justice
May 15, 2023 ( Virender Singh )
(naveen) Judge
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