‘Is civic body equipped to handle illegal constructions?’

HC seeks details from BBMP Commissioner

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the Commissioner of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to submit details on how the civic body is equipped to tackle illegal constructions, including how many orders were passed for demolishing illegal constructions and how many illegal structures were actually demolished since 2018.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Mohammad Nawaz issued the directions while hearing a PIL petition, initiated suo motu by the court after noticing through various litigations the failure of the BBMP in preventing illegal constructions and acting against them.

Pointing out that the apex court had repeatedly said that illegal constructions cannot be tolerated and failure to act against them would impact law-abiding citizens, the bench directed the Commissioner to inform the court whether any attempt was made to conduct a survey of illegal constructions in the city.

The Commissioner has been directed to submit whether there is any mechanism to receive complaints on illegal constructions and take action on such complaints; whether there is adequate staff and infrastructure to tackle the issue; and whether there is any mechanism to prevent illegal constructions.

The bench has also asked how many cases the BBMP had effectively handled the legal challenge posed before tribunals/courts to orders passed for demolition of illegal structures by moving application for vacating stay orders against demolitions.

While directing the Commissioner to submit these particulars by October 18, the bench adjourned further hearing till October 21.

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