Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 24: The High Court directed the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) to find out whether the 30 years old constructions were raised within the prohibited area of Dal lake or in violation of court orders and proceed thereafter in accordance with law.
Hearing an application seeking de-sealing structure situated at Mirakabad Shalimar, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice V C Koul directed the LAWDA to consider the issue in accordance with law and to pass a speaking order about the time of the above constructions and if the said constructions were raised within the prohibited area or in violation of the Court order.
The exercise, court directed, shall be completed by the LAWDA most expeditiously preferably within a period of four months from today. Owner of the structure Ghulam Mohammad Mir prayed that the order dated 28.10.2015 passed by this Court directing for sealing viz-a-viz his property be recalled and his property be de-sealed
He submitted that the permission to construct on 8 kanals and 10 marlas of land was granted to him on 13.08.1987 and subsequently another permission for construction was granted on 30.04.1988 in respect of 2 kanals and 16 marlas of land. Accordingly, constructions were raised on the said land in the year 1987-88-89 in accordance with the permissions so granted.
Subsequently, the applicant again applied for further construction in the year 2012 so as to raise construction upon 2144 Sft of land with a compound wall of 443 running feet. It is alleged that the aforesaid permission was never utilized and no construction in pursuance thereof was ever raised by the applicant and the buildings are in existence since before 2012.
The Court vide one of its orders dated 28.10.2015, on the basis of the report of the Court Vigilance Commissioner, observed that the petitioner has raised massive construction consisting of 50 rooms and four big lobbies within the prohibited area and the permission to raise construction granted in permission No. 82-Bldg/LDA of 2012 dated 15.12.2012 has been used as a camouflage for raising such illegal constructions. Therefore, the court directed for sealing the property.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation has accepted the grant of building permission vide order No.373 of 1987 dated 13.08.1987 and order No. 193 of 1988 dated 30.04.1988 respectively and submitted that subsequently the area had fallen into the jurisdiction of the LAWDA and in a way the Corporation had ceased to exercise jurisdiction over it.
The Corporation could not locate the files regarding the grant of permission and that there is no deemed permission in favour of the applicant. On the other hand, the stand of the LAWDA appears to be that the said constructions have been raised subsequently in violation of the order of the Court within the prohibited area and that the permission of 2012 has been used as a camouflage for raising such unauthorised constructions.
“The above aspect of the matter as to whether the applicant has raised constructions in the year 1987-88-89 in accordance with the permissions dated 13.08.1987 and 30.04.1988 or the said constructions are subsequent and in violation of the order of the High Court is a factual matter which requires to be decided on the basis of the evidence of the parties”, the DB said.
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