The Bombay High Court has refused to grant relief to a Pune-based school facing demolition of an unauthorised structure, observing firmly that “illegality is inherently incurable.”
A division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata, in an order dated May 9, rejected the plea filed by Aryan World School against the demolition notice issued by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) on April 17.
The court noted that even though the school caters to around 2,000 students, this fact alone does not entitle it to claim regularisation of illegal construction. “Such misplaced sympathy not only undermines the sanctity of the law but also jeopardises the very foundation of town planning,” the bench remarked.
Aryan World School, a charitable educational institution located in Bhilarewadi, had approached the court alleging that the demolition order was passed without giving the management an opportunity to be heard. The school’s counsel, Neeta Karnik, argued that the construction had been carried out based on a no objection certificate (NOC) issued by the local gram panchayat in October 2007, which was then the relevant authority.
However, the bench held that the gram panchayat had no legal authority to issue construction permissions, which should have been obtained from the district collector in the absence of any other competent body. The court found that the structure was erected without the required authorisation, making it wholly illegal.
The PMRDA had earlier rejected the school’s application for regularisation. Dismissing the petition, the court said, “The law is equal and uniformly applicable to all, without exception.”
The bench further criticised a widespread practice in Maharashtra, where individuals construct structures illegally with the hope of securing later regularisation. “It has become a recurring trend for individuals who have engaged in blatantly illegal or unauthorised constructions to invoke pleas of illiteracy or create third-party rights in an attempt to elicit sympathy or secure concessions for regularisation as a matter of right,” the order stated.
The court also directed the Maharashtra government to take appropriate action against the gram panchayat and the sarpanch involved in issuing the NOC. It ordered the state to file a compliance affidavit by November 14 detailing the actions taken against those responsible.
