Anurupa Pal
Published On: March 16, 2022 at 20:30 IST
Emphasising that the State Authorities remain Duty Bound to remove all Unauthorised Constructions on Public Land, the Delhi High Court has said that the mere Fact that such Encroachments represent Religious Structures.
A Place of Worship or the colour of a Religious Structure cannot detract or dilute the Authorities from that Obligation.
Justice Yashwant Varma was dealing with a Petition concerning the Encroachments made on a Public Pathway in the city’s Rani Jhansi Road.
The Counsel appearing on Behalf of the Delhi Government Apprised the Court that the Religious Committee, Constituted in Terms of a Government Circular dated 05 May 2014, had Addressed a Communication dated 07 December 2021, to the concerned Corporation.
It was Submitted that further Information and Inputs in Order to Assess the steps Liable to be taken were awaited.
On the other hand, the Counsel appearing for the Petitioner submitted that the stand taken by the Respondents clearly showed the Apathy and Failure to remove the Structures which were Admittedly Unauthorised.
The Court added that a Conjoint Reading of the said Circular as well as the Decision of the Single Judge makes it Evident all that the Circular intends to achieve is to ensure that the Removal of Encroachments is conducted in a structured manner and untoward incidents or a Law and Order situation being created avoided.
The Counsel appearing for the Delhi Government stated that appropriate action shall be taken within a Period of three weeks and that a Status Report will also be submitted before the Court.
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