Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Amrit Kumar Mondal @ Amrita Kr. ... vs The Kolkata Municipal ... on 15 December, 2022
15.12.2022
Item No.02
Court No.6.
S. De
M.A.T. 1982 of 2022
with
I.A. No. CAN/1/2022
Amrit Kumar Mondal @ Amrita Kr. Mondal.
Vs
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation & Ors.
Mr. Sanjib Kr. Mukherjee,
Mr. Prasenjit Mukherjee,
Md. Shakir,
...for the appellant.
Mr. Subhrangsu Panda,
Ms. Ina Bhattacharyya,
...for the K.M.C.
This appeal is preferred against a judgment and
order dated December 9, 2022 whereby the appellant's
writ petition being WPA 27327 of 2022 was dismissed.
It appears that the appellant has constructed a
three-storied structure at premises no. B/IB/H/15,
Umakanta Sen Lane, Ward No.4, Borough-1. It
further appears that no sanctioned plan was obtained
by the appellant for making such construction.
The Executive Engineer of Kolkata Municipal
Corporation passed an order for demolition of the
building on August 10, 2022. The appellant
challenged such order before a learned Single Judge of
this Court by filing W.P.A. 20480 of 2022. The learned
Single Judge disposed of the said writ petition by
passing the following directions :-
"It appears from records that the
order impugned is an appealable one.
The petitioner intends to prefer an
appeal against the same. Time period
for preferring appeal is 30 days from
the date of the order.
Though it appears that the time
within which the appeal ought to have
been preferred before the appellate
forum is over, but for ends of justice a
fortnight's time is granted for
preferring the appeal.
The order impugned dated 10th
August, 2022 is accordingly, stayed
till 30th September, 2022.
In the event the petitioner is
unable to obtain an order of stay
within 30th September, 2022, it will be
open for the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation to take steps in
accordance with law for
implementation of the impugned order.
The appellate forum is requested
to consider the application for stay, on
merits, if filed by the petitioner within
a period of two weeks from date and
pass necessary orders therein without
insisting upon filing of the certified
copy of the impugned order.
The petitioner is directed to file the
certified copy of the impugned order as
soon as the same made is available by
the department."
Pursuant to such leave, the appellant filed B.T.
Appeal No.189 of 2022 before the Municipal Building
Tribunal. By an order dated December 7, 2022, the
Tribunal dismissed the appeal.
Notice under Sections 544 and 546 of Kolkata
Municipal Corporation Act 1980 was affixed on the
outer wall of the premises in question on December 8,
2022, fixing December 9, 2022 as the date for
demolition of the unauthorized construction.
The appellant immediately approached the
learned Single Judge in the present round of litigation
by filing W.P.A. 27327 of 2022 challenging the notice
under Sections 544 and 546 of the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation Act. It was submitted before the learned
Judge that some breathing time ought to have been
given to the writ petitioner to challenge the order
passed by the Municipal Building Tribunal.
The learned Judge dismissed the writ petition by
observing inter alia, as follows :-
"The submission of the petitioner
that a breathing time ought to have
been given to challenge the order
passed by the Tribunal cannot be
accepted by the Court. It was not
open for the petitioner to raise
construction without obtaining a prior
sanction. The petitioner took the risk
of making construction and presently
intends to defend the said
unauthorized construction.
The men and agents of the
Corporation have promptly acted upon
the order passed by the learned
Tribunal. Trying to stop the ball which
has already been set in motion will
demoralise the officers who act with
promtitude. It will neither be proper
nor legal to hold on to a structure
constructed unauthorizedly without
obtaining sanction from the
Corporation.
The Court ought not to interfere
with the same to maintain the rule of
law."
Being aggrieved, the writ petitioner is before us
by way of this appeal.
Learned advocate for the appellant/writ
petitioner submits that the Corporation has acted with
undue haste. The Tribunal dismissed the appeal on
December 7, 2022. The Corporation issued the notice
under Sections 544 and 546 of the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation Act on the very next date. There was no
reason for the Corporation to act with such break-neck
speed. An opportunity ought to have been given to the
appellant to challenge the order of the Municipal
Building Tribunal before the appropriate forum.
We have not called upon Mr. Panda, learned
advocate representing the Corporation to make
submission.
We see absolutely no infirmity in the order
under appeal. Indeed, reckless people who do not
obey the law, deserve no sympathy. Unauthorized
constructions have become the bane of our city. Such
illegal constructions must be discouraged at all costs.
If a person makes a construction without obtaining
proper sanction from the concerned authority, he
must be ready to suffer the consequences thereof. We
are amazed to find that the appellant constructed a
three-storied building having an area of more than
eleven thousand square feet without obtaining
permission from the sanctioning authority. We are
happy to see that the Corporation has acted promptly.
We see no reason to interfere with the order of the
learned Single Judge.
The appeal being MAT 1982 of 2022 accordingly
fails and is dismissed along with the connected
application being I.A. No. CAN/1/2022.
Urgent certified photostat copy of this order, if
applied for, shall be given to the parties as
expeditiously as possible on compliance with all the
necessary formalities.
(Apurba Sinha Ray, J.) (Arijit Banerjee, J.)
