HC penalises four Shivpremis for obstructing statue removal

PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has slammed four "local Shivpremis" for abusing the legal process to obstruct the removal of a Shivaji statue from the property of Mormugao Port Authority (MPA), and imposed Rs 1 lakh costs on each.
In a strongly worded order pronounced on Monday, the Division Bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar described the four applicants’ approach as “calculated and most dishonest”. Rajendra Parab, Sanjiv Patil, Prajyot Vengurlekar and Yeshwant Ghonsekar are the applicants. 
The court held that their plea seeking to make the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 applicable to the case was an attempt to obstruct implementation of the court’s earlier order directing the removal of the statue and restoration of the site. The bench dismissed their application, holding the law could not be invoked on vague claims about unidentified people occupying the land.
“The provisions of the Public Premises Act cannot apply in a vacuum when the persons are unidentified and unknown,” the court observed. The 18-page order further added that the applicants’ arguments would effectively require notices to be issued to all unknown persons, or all residents of Vasco.
The court noted that its April 7 order remained unimplemented, despite directing the authorities to ensure the removal of the statue, its pedestal and surrounding constructions from MPA land at Sada Junction. 
The dispute concerns land owned by the MPA, where the statue was erected without its permission. The port authority had approached the court after repeated complaints to the authorities, including the police, the deputy collector and the Mormugao Municipal Council, allegedly failed to stop encroachment and illegal construction.
The four applicants, who were not parties to the original petition, approached the Supreme Court challenging the April 7 order. After withdrawing their plea with liberty to seek modification before the High Court, they filed the present application, arguing that the Public Premises Act and the Supreme Court’s guidelines on demolition of structures required due process before the statue could be removed.
They claimed that local residents had occupied the site for decades, used it for dumping garbage, and later cleaned and beautified the area before installing the statue. They also contended that the port authority had not been in possession of the property and had failed to object to the alleged encroachment.
However, the High Court found that the applicants had not identified the occupants, the persons who erected the structure or those who had supposedly dumped garbage at the site for decades. Nor had they clearly stated that they themselves occupied the land or erected the statue.
The Bench held that the applicants had withheld crucial particulars even though the police were investigating the port authority’s complaint. It concluded that their application lacked merit and was intended to obstruct the existing court order. The court directed each applicant to pay Rs 1 lakh within one week, with the amount going to the Goa State Legal Services Authority.