PANAJI
The Mormugao Municipal Council’s Chief Officer has less than 48 hours to pull down the illegally erected “Murgao Cha Raja” shed, after the High Court of Bombay at Goa came down heavily on the civic authority for failing to comply with a September 4 demolition order.
The Division Bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar warned that contempt proceedings would follow if the structure remains standing by October 7.
The High Court had, during previous hearing, expressly directed the Chief Officer to demolish the shed, erected illegally on Mormugao Port Authority land at Sada, by September 30. Despite the deadline having passed, the structure has been intact, prompting the court to question why its categorical order had not been carried out.
During the hearing on Monday, the council’s counsel sought to explain the delay by submitting that the machinery required from the Public Works Department had broken down on September 30. The Chief Officer sought directions to the PWD to provide the machinery and manpower needed to execute the demolition.
The explanation failed to find favour with the court, which made it clear that administrative difficulties could not be allowed to override a judicial direction. The court directed the Chief Officer to take all available administrative measures and ensure immediate compliance.
"If you have a desire, you demolish people's structures in 48 hours," the High Court observed, pointing to the apparent ease with which enforcement action could be taken when authorities chose to act.
"This is obviously... you seem to have someone's backing. You can hire a JCB or whatever you want. We made it very clear that the structure had to be demolished by September 30," it remarked.
With the matter posted for compliance on Wednesday, the High Court made it clear that failure to comply before the next hearing would result in formal contempt proceedings.
