PIL seeking demolition of illegal constructions at Patnitop
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 21: Division Bench of the State High Court comprising Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Rajesh Bindal has directed the newly impleaded hotel owners to respond to the affidavit of Patnitop Development Authority.
The direction was passed in a PIL filed by Harcharan Singh, owner of Crystal Hotel and Restaurant at Patnitop seeking demolition of the illegal/unauthorized buildings raised in green buffer areas of Patnitop.
At the very outset, Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocate Paras Gupta and Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed invited the attention of the Division Bench to the two fresh miscellaneous applications filed by owners of Hotels Green Top and Forest View situated at Village Karlah, Patnitop seeking their impleadment as party respondents in the PIL on the ground that specific allegations have been levelled against them.
Accordingly, the Division Bench impleaded the owners of these hotels as party respondents with the direction to file amended memo within one week.
Advocate Rahul Pant appearing for the petitioner submitted in the open court that the affidavit/status report filed by PDA is just a tip of the iceberg as there are huge violations of Master Plan and Building Laws by several hoteliers in Patnitop. He suggested that a Committee headed by Munsiff, Chenani with Additional Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, DFO Udhampur and CEO PDA be constituted to go on spot and report violations to the Division Bench.
At this stage, Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed appearing for newly impleaded Hotel Forest View submitted, “the present PIL is not filed by a bonafide person and the petition is an abuse of process of law as the petitioner has himself violated the master plan and raised Hotel Crystal at Patnitop without obtaining building permission from Patnitop Development Authority.
While attacking the credibility of the petitioner, Advocate Ahmed further submitted that PIL cannot be used as a tool to blackmail the business rivals and the petitioner and his wife have let loose a reign of terror in the entire Patnitop against the hotel fraternity and the petition filed for oblique motive is required to be dismissed with exemplary costs.
After considering the rival submissions, Division Bench issued directions that the PDA and other authorities shall proceed in the matter in accordance with law. The Division Bench further directed that PDA shall be given assistance by the Police Department, Revenue Department, Town Planning and Forest Department.
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