Building permission issued by SMC can be revisited by Special Tribunal: DB

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Jan 11: High Court today refused to entertain the pleadings challenging the building permission issued by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and recorded that they can be revisited by the J&K Special Tribunal.
As the building permissions issued by the SMC were in a routine manner being challenged by the aggrieved party before the High Court by way of writ petition, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal refused to entertain the plea challenging there in the building permission issued by the SMC.
The Division Bench has held that any challenge of building permission issued by the SMC is revisable by the J&K Special Tribunal. “…the writ petition was not maintainable otherwise also for the simple reason that the building permission, if any, granted to a person is revisable by the Government in exercise of its power”, DB has held.
Court said that it is the Government to revisit the correctness, legality, propriety of any order passed by any officer of the Government or the Commissioner (SMC) or any officer subordinate to him and the permission granted by the competent authority (SMC) is in the shape of an order passed by the competent authority i.e., on behalf of the Commissioner, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, and, as such, is clearly revisable in nature.
The Court while referring to the Special Tribunal Act said it provides that where an appeal, revision or review petition lies to the Government, it shall be presented to the Tribunal and that any reference to the Government shall be construed as a reference to the tribunal. “Accordingly, in the light of the remedy available to the appellant-aggrieved person, the writ petition filed by him directly before this Court challenging the permission granted was not entertain-able. The remedy of revision there-under is not said to be illusory or ineffective”, CJ said.
Court dismissed the appeal of the aggrieved party with liberty to him to avail the alternative remedy of revision before the Special Tribunal against the building permission granted by the SMC. The controversy in the matter was essentially in respect of the constructions sought to be raised by the private respondent on a plot of land situated in estate Natipora Naik-bagh Nowgam, Srinagar.