NEW DELHI: In a significant decision giving the executive unfettered right to demolish unauthorised and illegal constructions and encroachments, the Supreme Court has ruled that properties falling foul of law cannot be legitimised on the ground that people have been staying in them for decades and that authorities had blinked at the illegalities.
Upholding demolition action taken by the UP govt against certain illegal properties, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said, “Illegality of unauthorised construction cannot be perpetuated. If the construction is made in contravention of the Acts/Rules, it would be construed as illegal and unauthorised construction, which has to be necessarily demolished.”
Authoring the 36-page judgment, Justice Mahadevan said no unauthorised or illegal structure can be legitimised under the ruse of passage of time, long inaction of authorities, or that a substantial amount of money has been spent on the construction.
Justice Mahadevan said, “Unauthorised constructions, apart from posing a threat to the life of the occupants and the citizens living nearby, also have an effect on resources like electricity, ground water and access to roads, which are primarily designed to be made available in orderly development.”
Referring to instances where unauthorised constructions are registered due to collusion of registration authorities with land mafia, the bench said the power to remove unauthorised constructions is independent of the Registration Act and said, “In any way, registration of a property would not amount to regularising the unauthorised construction.”
Tackling the issue of prolonged litigations involving unauthorised constructions, the SC said, “In the event of any violation being brought to the notice of the courts, it must be curtailed with iron hands and any lenience afforded to them would amount to showing misplaced sympathy.”
The court also asked state govts not to mindlessly regularise illegal colonies, except only in exceptional circumstances. “State govts often seek to enrich themselves through the process of regularisation by condoning/ratifying the violations and illegalities. The State is unmindful that this gain is insignificant compared to the long-term damage it causes to the orderly urban development and irreversible adverse impact on the environment,” the bench said.
It said, “Hence, regularisation schemes must be brought out only in exceptional circumstances and as a one time measure for residential houses after a detailed survey and considering the nature of land, fertility, usage, impact on the environment, availability and distribution of resources, proximity to water bodies/rivers and larger public interest.”
It issued a slew of directions to authorities not to allow builders to allot flats without obtaining completion/occupancy certificate concerning all aspects of building bylaws. Financial institutions and banks would sanction loans against any building only after verifying the completion/occupancy certificate. SC asked the registry to send this order to all HCs and state chief secretaries for strict compliance.