Section 5-A of the Public Premises Act empowers the Estate Officer to remove existing unauthorized structures and is not retrospective in operation.

( 1 ) RULE, returnable forthwith. Mr. Suresh Kumar waives service of rule on behalf of the respondents. Heard by consent.

( 2 ) THE petitioner has challenged the order of the learned 2nd Addl. Principal Judge, city Civil Court, Mumbai, dated 3-10-2003 in misc. Appeal No. 201 of 2003 by which the appellate Court has upheld the eviction order dated 25-7-2003 directing the petitioner to remove the unauthorised construction from the railway land.

( 3 ) MR. Panday, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the entire proceedings initiated by the Estate Officer under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised occupants) Act, 1971, hereinafter referred to as the "act", is vitiated since the petitioner's structure was in existence in the year 1978. According to the learned counsel, the respondents were not entitled to issue a notice to the petitioner to remove his unauthorised construction under section 5-A of the Act which was subsequently inserted by Act no. 61 of 1980 and brought into force with effect from 20-12-1980.

( 4 ) I see no merit in this contention. Section 5a of the Act reads as follows :-

"5-A. Power to remove unauthorised constructions, etc. (1) No person shall (a) erect or place or raise any building or any movable or immovable structure or fixture, (b) display or spread any goods, (c) bring or keep any cattle or other animal, on, or against, or in front of, any public premises except in accordance with the authority (whether by way of grant or any other mode of transfer) under which he was allowed to occupy such premises. (2)Whether any building or other immovable structure or fixture has been erected, placed or raised on any public premises in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1), the estate officer may serve upon the person erecting such building or other structure or fixture, a notice requiring him either to remove, or to show cause why he shall not remove such building or other structure or fixture from the public premises within such period, not being less than seven days, as he may specify in the notice; and on the omission or refusal of such person either to show cause, or to remove such building or other structure or fixture from the public premises, or where the cause shown is not, in the opinion of the estate officer, sufficient, the estate officer may, by order, remove or cause to be removed the building or other structure or fixture from the public premises and recover the cost of such removal from the person aforesaid as an arrear of land revenue. (3) Whether any movable structure or fixture has been erected, placed or raised, or any goods have been displayed or spread, or any cattle or other animal has been brought to be kept, on any public premises, in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (1) by any person, the estate officer may, by order, remove or cause to be removed without notice, such structure, fixture, goods, cattle or other animal, as the case may be, from the public premises and recover the cost of such removal from such person as an arrear of land revenue. "section 5-A empowers the Estate Officer to serve upon the person erecting an unauthorised structure or fixture to give a notice requiring him to remove it within such period as specified in sub-section (2) where such a structure 'has been erected'. "the Estate Officer is empowered to do so himself in case the noticee does not comply. This section was undoubtedly enacted in the year 1980. It was clearly intended to confer power on the Estate Officer to remove all existing unauthorised structures on that date. There is no warrant for construing the section is such a manner that it empowers the Estate Officer to remove only unauthorised structures which were brought into existence after the date the section was brought into force. It is settled law that the rule against retrospective construction is not applicable to a statute merely because a part of the requisites for its action is drawn from a t