The Supreme Court on Thursday chose not to entertain a contempt plea against Maharashtra authorities, alleging non-compliance with its earlier judgment regarding property demolitions. The bench, consisting of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, directed the petitioner to approach the high court instead.
During the hearing, Justice Gavai suggested, “Why don’t you go to the high court? We can’t monitor everything here,” in response to the petitioner’s request for initiating contempt proceedings for violating the Supreme Court’s directives issued on November 13, 2024. These directives set national guidelines, including the requirement for a prior show cause notice and granting a 15-day response period to the aggrieved parties before any demolition could proceed.
The counsel for the petitioner struggled to provide the required sanction plan when prompted by the bench, stating the need to seek further instructions. Justice Gavai expressed the court’s position clearly: “We are not inclined to entertain the present petition. If the petitioner is aggrieved, he can very well approach the jurisdictional high court.”
The petitioner’s counsel highlighted that, in related cases a few kilometers from the petitioner’s property, the high court had ruled the structures in question to be completely illegal. He also noted that the petitioner owned the land and had constructed a tin shed on it but was given only a day’s notice by the authorities before action was taken.
Justice Gavai pointed out a crucial aspect of the Supreme Court’s November 2024 ruling, stating, “Our order also says that our judgement would not be applicable if the structures are on public roads.” This verdict specified that its directions would not apply to unauthorized structures in public spaces such as roads, streets, footpaths, areas near railway lines, rivers, or water bodies, except in cases where there was a specific court order for demolition.
The apex court’s guidelines require that “No demolition should be carried out without a prior showcause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days time from the date of service of such notice, whichever is later.”
