MC gets High Court rap over illegal constructions in city

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 17

Issuing fresh orders, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) has instructed the special investigating team (SIT), the Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner and the Municipal Town Planner to take action over the illegal construction of hotels in the walled city or show cause for not taking appropriate action.

During a hearing of the contempt of court filed by petitioner Sarbjit Singh Verka, the court stated that it was crystal clear that its orders were being flouted. It is an admitted position that in spite of certain relaxations, the buildings in question do not meet the criteria of being regularised. The court stated that it appeared that the respondents wanted to continue to relax the building bylaws and rules in order to accommodate the illegal structures.

Judge Nirmaljit Kaur stated that authorities seem to be sitting back allowing these illegal constructions to come up. The removal of these illegal constructions is being delayed on one pretext or the other and under the garb of modifying the rules and regulations under the Act.

Till date, notices issued under Section 269 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act have not been taken to their logical conclusion either by way of demolishing or sealing the illegal properties. The court has adjourned to April 11.

The court ordered the SIT members, the MC Commissioner and the Municipal Town Planner to be present during the next hearing to show cause as to why punishment should not be passed.

The petitioner, advocate Sarbajit Singh Verka, who is fighting against the illegal constructions, had filed a PIL in 2010. Following this, the court had banned further constructions in the walled city in 2012. But the MC failed to stop the illegal constructions around the Golden Temple. Following which, on the directions of the court, the state government had constituted an SIT in 2014.

The SIT, comprising IAS officers Rahul Tiwari, Ravi Bhagat and Sandip Rishi, found that 125 illegal hotels had been constructed around the temple. Meanwhile, the government enacted the Walled City Act in 2016 and invited applications to regularise hotels under the Act. As many as 216 hoteliers submitted their files. All these hotel owners failed to fulfill the conditions of the Act.

Verka had claimed that after the constitution of the SIT, more than 400 hotels had been constructed in the city and illegal constructions were going on. After that, he filed contempt of court. Now, the MC has to take action on these 400 newly constructed hotels.