HC orders status quo at dargah

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 21

Travelling on the Ambala-Jagadhri road, traffic comes to a standstill as cars come to a halt with commuters disembarking from vehicles with timepieces in their hands. The clocks are to be offered at the Dargah Nau Gaza Peer by those hoping to tame the vagaries of time.

But for the Punjab and Haryana High Court, all this would have changed with the issuance of notice for removal of the structure on PWD and national highway land. Taking up a petition filed in the matter against the state and other respondents by Paramdham Nau Gaza Peer Baba through counsel Sameer Sachdeva, the High Court has not only issued notice of motion, but also ordered maintenance of status quo on the spot.

Justice MMS Bedi asked the respondents to apprise the court of “legal provisions under which steps were being taken to remove the encroachment or take possession”. A report on the status of the land under construction as per revenue record was also called for.

Taking up the matter, Justice Bedi observed that the perusal of an order indicated that an Executive Engineer had informed the Ambala District Magistrate that the construction was to be removed.

The communication came following a complaint by Sanjeev Kumar alleging illegal construction by the petitioner and the Trust opposite the BSNL telephone exchange on PWD land.

The District Magistrate, in turn, deputed the Naraingarh Block Development and Panchayat Officer as Duty Magistrate to maintain law and order for removal of “illegal encroachment” made by Dargah Nau Gaza Peer on the spot.

Justice Bedi went on to observe that the petitioner had earlier been issued a notice for removal of the structure on PWD and national highway land “with a threat to remove the same”.

Before parting with the order, Justice Bedi asserted: “Without expression of any opinion regarding the nature of the land or any enforceable right vested in the petitioner, it is sufficient to observe here that there is imminent threat to the removal of the construction without following the rules of natural justice and adopting the specific procedure for arriving at a conclusion regarding the construction of the petitioner being illegal encroachment and right of the authorities to dispossess the petitioner without granting an opportunity of hearing.”