The cost of reconstruction will be recovered from the salaries of officials responsible for demolition

A civic agency in Punjab has landed in trouble for demolishing a marriage hall despite restrictions imposed by a court. The Supreme Court now has held its action “arbitrary” and directed it to reconstruct the hall.

The cost of reconstruction will be recovered from the salaries of officials responsible for the illegal demolition.

A Bench, comprising Justices S B Sinha and Aftab Alam said the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation authorities had arbitrarily demolished the hall, located on Link Road, after issuing vague notices, despite the fact that the original owner Hira Devi had died and an injunction restraining the demolition was pending in the court.

The apex court said the authorities were wrong in claiming that the third notice issued by them in 2001 was final, as Hira Devi had died in 1998.

After initially issuing two notices to Hira Devi, the authorities issued the third notice in her name in 2001, even though she had died and the property was in the possession of her grandson Inderjit Singh.

As per the law, the authorities were supposed to issue fresh notices to Inderjit Singh, which they did not do; instead they demolished the structure despite a court restraining them from doing so.

Inderjit Singh filed an appeal in the High Court, which held the demolition illegal and directed the civic authorities to reconstruct the marriage hall and recover the cost of the construction from the salaries of officials responsible for the illegal demolition.

... contd.