The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed Haryana authorities on Thursday to take action against approximately 4,000 illegal constructions in DLF City, Gurugram, within the next two months.
The Division Bench, comprising Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Vikas Suri, determined that the constructions were in blatant violation of the Zoning Plan, Building Bye-Laws, and the Haryana Building Code.
The Bench warned that if such haphazard and unplanned development is not halted, it could result in the complete collapse of Gurugram's infrastructure, including potable water, sewerage, air quality, transportation, electricity, as well as other essential facilities and amenities.
“It is amply clear that a powerful lobby of certain groups/land mafia, are ruining the very basic character of the developed colony in active connivance with the local administration/ official respondents that too only because the authorities have turned a blind eye and are permitting such illegal & unauthorised constructions / illegal developments; which are coming up at an alarming rate right under their nose,” the Court said.
The order was issued in response to petitions filed by the DLF City Residents Welfare Association and DLF-3 Voice in 2021, urging action based on a 2018 Action Taken Report concerning complaints about unauthorized constructions.
The petitioners argued that such illegal constructions were undermining the fundamental purpose and objectives of planned development as outlined in various development laws.
The Court was informed that, despite recommendations for action, the authorities had been procrastinating, citing various excuses.
In its response, the State disclosed that violations were found on at least 4,033 General and EWS category plots. However, the official data showed that action had only been taken in a few cases.
The High Court also noted that civil courts had stayed proceedings in several instances, despite the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, barring the jurisdiction of civil courts.
As a result, the Court ordered that the civil suits be promptly closed, after providing an opportunity for all concerned parties to be heard.
“The Civil Courts concerned, who are entertaining the civil suits qua those subject matters, in respect whereof, there is a statutory jurisdictional bar (supra), thus are directed to, after considering all the objections against the maintainability of such filed civil suits, to raise an apposite preliminary issue, and to decide the said struck preliminary issue within two months from today.”
Additional Advocates General Ankur Mittal, Svaneel Jaswal with Senior Deputy Advocate General PP Chahar, Deputy Advocates General Saurabh Mago and Gaurav Bansal along with Assistant Advocate General Karan Jindal represented the State of Haryana.
Senior Advocates Randeep S Rai and Pankaj Jain with advocates Pravindra Singh Chauhan, Deepak Sabherwal, Arvind Seth, Anirudh Malhan, Kunal Dawar, Vipul Sharma, Radhika Mehta, Misha Kumar, Sachin Bhardwaj and Divya Suri represented other respondents.
Website designed, developed and maintained by webexy