BMC to demolish illegal construction — HC

As per the corporation, Yasin Razak Qureshi and another person filed a suit in the city civil court in March fearing that the building would be demolished. They claimed to have jointly purchased this dilapidated building. The building needed minor repairs like replastering walls and repairs the floor slab. The ward authorities had informed them that there was no need for permission since the repairs were of minor nature.

However, corporation counsel N V Walavalkar disclosed facts to the contrary. He said the photograph shown to the lower court judge showed ground plus one floor structure. However, this photo disclosed only the convenient’ part of the building. When the corporation officials visited the site, they found no “minor repairs’ but regular reconstruction and erection of a new floor.

They brought it to the notice of the judge who also noted the marked discrepancy in the photos. Eventually, Qureshi was served a demolition notice. However, he filed another suit. He maintained that reconstruction was warranted only to replace damaged beams and pillars. This time the judge ruled that corporation should have served the notice under section 351 of the BMC Act and not 354 A.

Walavalkar told the high court that the judicial process was misused to construct a new building which was illegal since the plot was earmarked for recreation purposes in the development plan. The reconstruction is even more serious since the building exists on the main road, necessitating a statutory permission from the planning authority. The respondent’s counsel argued that since the reconstruction was complete, the BMC cannot demolish the building. However, Walavalkar argued that the completed process of reconstruction is no pretext for restraining demolition.

Justice H L Gokhale of the BMC has lamented the fact that the lower court should not have restrained the corporation since permission to such an unauthorised structure, built with extraordinary speed, is hazardous to the lives of the occupants, especially in the monsoons.

Justice Gokhale also ordered appointment of a court receiver who will take charge of the building, seal it with the help of the police and hand it over to the BMC. The judge has stated that while the second floor of the building can be completely demolished, the BMC is asked to consider the rest after a period of four weeks.