High Court halts work on commercial building in ‘residential area’

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered to stop the construction of a high-rise commercial building in the city’s Model Town ‘residential area’. The Bench also directed the MC Commissioner, Ludhiana, to appear before the court on the next date of hearing through videoconferencing to explain the “casual attitude displayed in filing pleadings”.

“Since apparently from the perusal of photographs, it seems that the construction is being carried out at a breakneck speed, we deem it fit that the same be stopped. The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, and the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, shall ensure that no construction activity is carried out on the road in question…,” the Bench of Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Meenakshi I Mehta asserted.

The Bench was hearing a petition against the state and other respondents by Rajinder Singh through advocate Charanpal Singh Bagri and Gurjit Kaur Bagri. The court observed that the dispute was regarding the construction of a commercial building on a site in Model Town, Ludhiana, which apparently was a residential area.

The “alleged permission for the CLU” was granted on November 20, 2022. But it was brought to the court’s notice that the Model Town road, from Gulati Chowk to Dugri Road, — where the site was located — was never notified and declared a commercial road and the CLU could not have been issued by the authorities for a high-rise multi-storied commercial complex.

The Bench asserted that a paragraph-wise reply had not been filed to refute specific averments regarding the raising of a commercial property in a residential area. It was despite earlier directions on filing response to the writ petition with the condition that the Commissioner would remain present if the reply was not submitted.

The Bench added that the stand now taken by the Municipal Corporation in its short reply was contrary to the factual matrix. There was nothing on record to show that the state government had notified the CLU from residential to commercial of the road in question on which the plots were situated.

“In a paragraph of the reply, the stand taken is contrary that there is no requirement of further notification since the state government has already accepted the resolution,” the Bench observed.

The case will now come up for further hearing in September last week.

MC chief told to appear before court

The Bench also directed the MC Commissioner, Ludhiana, to appear before the court on the next date of hearing through videoconferencing to explain the “casual attitude displayed in filing pleadings”. It was hearing a petition against the state and other respondents by Rajinder Singh through advocate Charanpal Singh Bagri and Gurjit Kaur Bagri. The court observed that the dispute was regarding the construction of a commercial building on a site in Model Town, which apparently was a residential area.