Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday sought to know from the Maharashtra government as to why it was hesitant to use bulldozers for demolishing illegal structures at Alibaug, in Raigad district. The HC even said, 'just because our nation is a free one, people think everything here is free (muft ka).'
A bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Nitin Jamdar made the observations while hearing a petition filed by activist Surendra Dhavale, who highlighted the rampant illegal construction at Alibaug.
He urged the court to bring down all the illegal bungalows, mostly owned by celebrities and businessmen like fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. The observations were made in response to the submissions of the government, which said, it was yet to pull down the structures in Alibaug.
Having heard this, the bench noted, the government counsel had made this same submission on an earlier hearing, in the matter. It further noted, the government counsel had then informed of the ‘protection’ granted to 111 such structures by virtue of ‘status quo’ orders passed by a lower court.
“We had asked you (government) to file applications to vacate the status quo orders. But we have nothing before us today,” CJ Nandrajog said.
At this, the government counsel submitted, all their applications for vacating the status quo orders have been dismissed. He further informed the judges, the authorities need at least eight weeks time to pull down structures, which are not protected by any court order.
Irked over this, CJ Nandrajog said, “Are you aware of the existence of case laws for proving ownership and also encroachment? Did you cite any of these case laws before the lower courts?”
“We fail to understand why are you hesitating to use the bulldozer to demolish the illegal structures,” CJ Nandrajog remarked. The bench further noted, the government has allowed these structures to stand despite them being illegal.
“We understand that we live in a free nation, but the concept of free nation does not mean muft ka nation (a country where everything is free). This is like a loot going on over here,” the chief justice remarked.
The judges accordingly adjourned the matter with a direction to the government and local civic authorities at Alibaug to demolish all the illegal structures, which are not protected by any court orders. The bench has further directed the government to submit a data of all the structures, which are protected by court orders.