The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the Srinagar Municipal Corporation’s (SMC) decision to regularise a minor deviation in a building’s sanctioned plan, holding that the petitioner lacked locus standi and that the case amounted to an abuse of process.
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, speaking for the bench, observed that while the law recognises a liberal approach to standing in matters of genuine public interest or systemic illegality, such relaxation cannot be applied indiscriminately to enable indirect challenges to concluded proceedings by persons neither party to the original dispute nor directly affected by its outcome.
The Court noted that the petitioner was not involved in the earlier proceedings before the Special Tribunal and was unaffected by the deviation in question—measuring only 118 sq. ft., approximately 7% of the permissible construction area. This deviation had already been compounded and regularised by the competent authority in November 2024 after due process. “Public interest cannot serve as a cloak for personal grievances or speculative apprehensions,” the Court cautioned, adding that the petitioner had failed to demonstrate any specific legal injury or procedural illegality.
Emphasising that locus standi is a substantive requirement under Article 226 and not a mere procedural technicality, the Court reiterated that third parties cannot reopen concluded disputes unless a systemic failure or breach of fundamental obligations is shown—circumstances absent in the present case.
Addressing the contention that the Tribunal had overlooked objections raised in a 2022 demolition notice, the Court found that relevant factors, such as land use and the extent of deviation, had been duly considered, and that “mere non-reproduction of each objection” did not render the decision invalid.
Finding no arbitrariness or procedural impropriety, the High Court declined to interfere with either the Tribunal’s May 2024 order or the SMC’s regularisation decision, dismissing the petition along with all connected applications.
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