Municipality’s complaint against SMO dismissed

Balwant Garg

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 25

Four years after the Department of Local Bodies (DLB) imposed a Rs 26.19-lakh fine on a senior medical officer (SMO) of Kotkapura civil hospital and started criminal proceedings against him for raising construction of a children and maternity care centre without obtaining necessary sanctions from the Municipal Committee (MC), the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridkot, on Saturday dismissed the case as the MC Kotkapura was highly ‘sluggish’ in starting the proceedings against the SMO.

In a case of constructing a building without prior sanction from MC, a person is guilty under Section 195/195-A of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911. However, under Section 469 of the CrPC, the period of limitation for filing the complaint under Punjab Municipal Act is six months. But in the present case, the MC filed the complaint against the doctor after eight months and the court dismissed it.

The court cannot take cognizance of an offence after the expiry of the limitation period, said Judge Palwinder Jit Kaur, dismissing the MC complaint.

The bone of contention in this case was the construction of a hospital building, funded by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The NRHM provided Rs 5 crore to set up a children and maternity care centre in Kotkapura civil hospital and its construction was started in 2014, without any sanction from the MC.

After the MC filed the case against the SMO, the Punjab Health System Corporation (PSHC) had demanded withdrawal of the case as all government buildings are exempted from any tax under the Municipal Act. Not conceding to this demand, the MC denied any such exemption to the hospital.

In this letter, the PSHC had given the reference of July 17, 1993, notification under which all gurdwaras, charitable hospitals, dispensaries and other charitable trusts were exempted from any fee to get sanction from MCs under Section 71 of the Act.

Even under Section 90 of Punjab Municipal Act, the Act is not applicable to the properties of state government which are not being used for the purpose of any trade or business, claimed the PHSC authorities.

The MC claimed that PHSC is not a government department but it is an autonomous corporation, like Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL). As no building of PSPCL is exempted from the Act, so it is also applicable to the buildings of PHSC.

The case

• The NRHM provided Rs 5 crore to set up a children and maternity care centre in Kotkapura civil hospital and its construction was started in 2014, without any sanction from the MC.
• After the MC filed the case against the SMO of the hospital, the PSHC demanded withdrawal of the case as all government buildings are exempted from any tax under the Municipal Act. Not conceding to this demand, the MC denied any such exemption to the hospital.
• The Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridkot, on Saturday dismissed the case as the MC Kotkapura was highly ‘sluggish’ in starting the proceedings against the SMO.