Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday posed some tough questions to Maharashtra government, which has been dragging its feet over pulling down hundreds of illegal structures along the coast in the Alibaug region of Raigad district. The HC sought to know if the government has not initiated any action against these alleged illegal structures only because the structures are owned by powerful and eminent persons.
A bench of Justices Satyranjan Dharmadhikari and Riyaz Chagla has also summoned the district collector to present a clear picture in the issue. The bench was dealing with a batch of petitions highlighting the rampant illegal construction along the coast of Alibaug, which falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) area. The bench noted that several powerful and eminent persons have their bungalows amongst these illegal structures, which are not yet to be demolished despite its orders. “It appears that some eminent persons have built their bungalows at the site in question. Is this the reason for you not initiating any action against these eminent persons?” Justice Dharmadhikari remarked.
The bench noted the contention that these powerful persons have not taken any permission from authorities and went ahead with constructing their lavish bungalows. “When such serious allegations are being made we expected the collector would have had deputed a senior officer to remain present in the court for every hearing. It is unfortunate that none of the officials have bothered to remain present here,” Justice Dharmadhikari said.
“Thus, we are compelled to call upon the collector now. Let him remain present and give a clearer picture,” Justice Dharmadhikari said, while posting the matter for further hearing on Monday.
The bench noted that in an earlier hearing in the matter, the government counsel Priyabhushan Kakade had ‘assured’ another bench led by Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, that all the illegal structures would be removed before the next hearing.
However, when the matter was heard on Wednesday, Kakade informed the bench of Justice Dharmadhikari that the government has pulled down only 24 such structures including that of fugitive offender Nirav Modi.
The prompt response was interrupted with Justice Dharmadhikari saying, “Till now you demolished only 24 what about the rest? We understand these structures belong to eminent personalities. Is it because of this that you are not taking any action against the structures?”
Responding in negative, Govt counsel Kakade told the bench 111 bungalows have got protective orders from lower courts. “But there are some structures in respect of which the lower courts have not granted any interim relief. There are also a few, who had later withdrawn their suits for protection from demolition,” Justice Dharmadhikari pointed out.
“We want a detailed information on what action has been taken against these structures, who have either withdrawn their suits or have not get any protection,” he added.
