IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION (APPELLATE SIDE)
ARIJIT BANERJEE, RAI CHATTOPADHYAY, JJ.
Shri Prasanta Mondal & Anr. – Appellants
Versus
The State of West Bengal & Ors. – Respondents
M.A.T. 434 of 2022 With I.A. No. CAN 1 of 2022
Decided on : 10-08-2022
Howrah Municipal Corporation Act, 1980 - Section 28(3)(b), 28(3)(c) - Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Act 2017 - Section 177(1) - Quashing order of demolition of construction - Challenged the legality and propriety - Judgment and order - Delegation of powers and functions - Held, Appellant's plea of their rights being jeopardised, in view of post facto sanction given to others in locality is also not found to be sustainable as records have sufficiently shown about blatant violation of rules, regulations and sanctioned plan by appellants in constructing addition floors in their house which otherwise entails imminent danger to building itself and to locality also and how factually differently appellant's case stands from that of others - Hence, no doubt, in this case, appellants have failed to establish that they had a legal right and due to non-performance of respondent authorities of their duties, appellant's rights were jeopardized - Court do not find any reason to interfere with judgment and order impugned - MAT dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
Rai Chattopadhyay, J.:
1. Appellants/writ petitioners are aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the order dated 16.3.2022, delivered by the Learned Single Bench in W.P.A. No.4408 of 2022 (Sri Prasanta Mondal & Anr. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.) and thus have preferred this appeal being M.A.T No.434/2022 challenging the same.
2. Learned Single Bench vide its order dated 16.3.2022, has been pleased to dismiss appellant’s writ petition as mentioned above. Appellants/writ petitioners had prayed therein for quashing the order of demolition of construction issued by respondent No.3, dated 04.03.2022 of the third and fourth floors of the appellant’s abode.
3. Bereft of any unnecessary details, the factual background of the case may be narrated in a nutshell that the appellants/writ petitioners are the joint owners of premises No.14/2 Khagendra Nath Ganguly Lane, P.S:Golabari, Dist: Howrah, Pin Code No:711106. They got a plan of building sanctioned by respondent No.3/Kolkata Municipal Corporation, for construction of a G+2 building in the said premises. However, at the material point of time, the respondent No.3 notified them about the unauthorised and illegal construction of 3rd and 4th floors in the said premises, which it says to be dehors the sanction of the competent authority, i.e, itself. Thereafter series of litigations went on between the parties, by which the appellants/writ petitioners ventured to get a court’s order to quash the said demolition notice(s) by the respondent No.3, the present one being fourth of those, according to the serial. On earlier occasions the appellants could succeed in their endeavour, as the demolition order(s) issued by respondent No.3 were set aside by court and directions were issued to afford opportunity to the appellants for hearing. Appellants were afforded such opportunity and ultimately the respondent No.3, stood firm on its stand of considering the 3rd and 4th floors of the said building to be an unauthorised construction, dehors the sanctioned plan with respect to the said premises. This prompted respondent No.3 to issue demolition order dated 04.3.2022, which was challenged in the writ petition, before Learned Single Bench being W.P.A No.4408 of 2022. However, appellant’s challenge to the impugned order, as above, was set at naught by the Learned Single Bench upon elaborate discussion of the factual aspects being intertwined with the law as prevailing and their prayer was disallowed.
4. This has brought the writ petitioners/appellants before this appeal court, in this appeal being MAT No.434/2022, wherein they have challenged the legality and propriety of the impugned judgment and order dated 16.3.2022, in W.P.A No.4408 of 2022. In the impugned judgment and order dated 16.3.2022, Learned Single Bench has held that in view of the admitted facts, i.e, the 3rd and 4th floors of the building being constructed without a plan sanctioned for the same, the corporation has rightly held that these additional floors cannot be treated as “minor deviations”, that the court cannot direct corporation to do something which is otherwise not permitted by law. The court was not satisfied with appellant’s argument before it, that regularisation of unauthorised additional floors of a building, which were raised without any sanction, is permitted under law. Court decided that there would not be any further opportunity granted to the appellants/writ petitioners to try and protect the unauthorised floors and that unauthorised construction cannot be allowed to remain. Hence, ultimately Learned Single Bench dismissed the writ petition of the appellants.
5. In this appeal court, Ld. Advocate for the appellants has approached the issue through quadruple dimensions.
6. The first point he argued was that the respondent authorities were to act in accordance with law, adhering to the principle of natural justice and regard been had to the equality before law and equal protection of law. Appellant’s grievance is
Dipak Kumar Mukherjee v. Kolkata Municipal Corpn. reported in (2013) 5 SCC 336
Esha Ekta Coop. Housing Society Ltd. V. Municipal Corpn. of Mumbai reported in (2013) 5 SCC 357
Friends Colony Development Committee v. State of Orissa reported in (2004) 8 SCC 733
M/s Rajatha Enterprise vs S.K.Sarma & Ors
Muni Suvrat Swami Jain SMP Sangh vs Arun Nathuram Gaikward & Ors
Priyanka Estates International (P) Ltd. V. State of Assam reported in (2010) 2 SCC 27
State of U. P & Ors vs. Harish Chandra & Ors. Reported in (1996) 9 SCC 309
Supretech Ltd v. Emerald Court Owner Resident Welfare Assn. reported in (2021) 10 SCC 1
The judgment establishes the principle that unauthorised constructions cannot be regularized under the amended provisions of the Acts. It emphasizes the need to prevent illegal and unauthorized const....
An unauthorized construction is liable to be demolished, and the municipal authorities are not bound to regularize the same.
The Superintendent Engineer validly issued a demolition order under delegated authority, despite challenges regarding notice and natural justice, affirming the necessity of judicial efficiency in mun....
Point of Law : Prevalent situation either in the limits of the Corporation, Municipality or the Panchayat if noticed, it would demonstrate clear apathy on the part of the Authorities towards the citi....
Unauthorized constructions cannot be legitimized by time or inaction; strict enforcement of demolition orders is essential to uphold the rule of law.
A tenant of an unauthorized construction lacks standing to challenge a demolition order as they are not considered 'any person aggrieved' under Section 400(3) of the KMC Act.
The duty of the municipal authority to ensure prompt demolition of unauthorized constructions and the precedence of the order of a higher court over that of a subordinate court.
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