Unauthorised construction: HC imposes Rs 1L cost on NGO

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on an NGO while dismissing its petition seeking demolition of more than 40 buildings on grounds of alleged unauthorised construction in south Delhi’s Deoli area, saying it looked like a blackmailing litigation.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh refused to entertain the plea, noting that petitioner NGO Prerna Ek Disha Foundation has not arrayed the owners of those buildings as parties to the public interest litigation (PIL).

The so-called PIL looks like a blackmailing litigation. The petition is dismissed with a cost of Rs one lakh, to be deposited with the legal service authority,” the bench said.

The high court said stringent and cogent evidence is required to prove the legality or illegality of a construction.

Besides this, the court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on another petitioner in a separate PIL alleging unauthorised construction going on in south Delhi and that it was causing nuisance.

The court said the counsel for the petitioner has not argued anything on the legality of the construction and merely because some construction material is lying on the road, does not mean that it was illegal.

This can’t be a presumption of illegality of the construction. There is a wrong notion in the mind of the petitioner that because the material is on road, the construction is illegal. The legality of the construction cannot be proved on the basis of photographs placed with the petition, the bench said.

The petitioner had relied on various photographs showing construction material lying on the roads and alleged that it was an illegal construction. (PTI)