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New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) In a major relief to thousands of landlords of DLF Phase 1 to 5 in Gurugram, the Supreme Court has quashed the Punjab and Haryana High Court order which had directed demolition of unauthorized constructions in residential areas and sealing of commercial establishments.
A division bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, while restoring the writ petitions before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, ruled that no adverse action can be taken without hearing the affected parties. The bench led by Justice Maheshwari said that “opportunity to be heard is an essential condition for fair administration of justice”, and also said that the impugned order was passed “without impinging the appellants as parties to the writ petition”.
The top court said the high court’s directions – ordering closure of 172 pending civil suits and mandating demolition within two months – had serious ramifications for property owners, who were neither heard nor made parties. The decision came on a batch of special leave petitions (SLPs) filed by Gurugram residents challenging the February 13 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the DLF City Residents Welfare Association (RWA) in 2021.
The SLP argued that the High Court’s directions were passed “without giving an opportunity of being heard” and in disregard of the ongoing civil proceedings regarding the ownership and legality of the construction.
The Supreme Court, while acknowledging that illegal constructions cannot be protected, said that any illegality must be dealt with according to due process of law. A bench led by Justice Maheshwari said, “Unauthorized or illegal construction, contrary to the norms, rules and regulations, commercial use of residential property cannot be protected. But such fact has to be determined by the authorities while providing reasonable opportunity to the owners and occupiers.”
The top directed reinstatement of the writ petitions before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, giving two weeks’ time to the affected persons to file applications to join the proceedings. “It is needless to say that an opportunity of being heard is an essential condition for the fair administration of justice, and the observations of the court should not prejudice the rights of any party,” the order said.
The Supreme Court also asked the Haryana government to give “wide publicity” of its order so that all affected residents can approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It asked the High Court to decide the petitions as soon as possible, within six months, after giving opportunity to all concerned parties.”
Earlier, a February order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had prompted the Town and Country Planning Department (DTCP) to prepare for major sealing and demolition operations.
Following the High Court order, the DTCP had identified around 2,100 properties in DLF Phases 1-5 for alleged violations, including residential buildings used for commercial purposes like paying guest accommodation, guest houses and shops. Later the Supreme Court put a temporary stay on this order.
–IANS
PDS/UK