Ahmedabad, Feb 6 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to file an affidavit providing details of unauthorised religious structures and steps taken for their removal after taking strong exception to its reply filed in the matter.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee took strong exception to the manner in which the state government had filed an affidavit regarding the steps it had taken to remove unauthorised religious structures in a suo motu case and directed it to file a further affidavit by the next hearing on February 27.
The court noted that in its affidavit, the secretary of the home department had said that action has so far been taken against 23.33 per cent of such unauthorised structures identified till September 30, 2022.
The affidavit failed to clarify whether the action was “contemplated” or “taken” against the identified religious structures, it said.
The high court had in 2006 initiated a suo motu proceedings regarding the demolition drive undertaken by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation for the removal of purported religious structures that encroached upon public space.
In its order dated December 15, 2022, the court had directed the state government to file an affidavit regarding the Supreme Court’s directions to all states and union territories to identify unauthorised religious constructions in public places and formulate a comprehensive policy regarding their removal, relocation, or regularisation.
“We may note that out of the total unauthorised constructions identified up till September 30, 2022, action has been taken with respect to only 23.33 per cent (of structures). There is no clarity as to whether the action was contemplated or taken against them,” the court observed.
“We may take strong exception to the manner in which the affidavit has been filed by the secretary, home department, without giving any detail about the nature of action taken in the matter of removal of unauthorised constructions in compliance of the directions issued by the apex court,” the court said.
It further said that the statement made in the affidavit that the petition be disposed of as the action plan conceived by the government will take care of any further encroachment “is wholly uncalled for”.
“The policy decision issued by the government resolution dated December 16, 2022, though has been appended with the affidavit, but the compliance of the said resolution has not been brought on record,” the court noted and directed the government to file a further affidavit in strict compliance to the court’s order dated December 15, 2022. PTI KA ARU
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