Chandigarh admn proposes steeper penalty to check building misuse

Penalties for building misuse, cutting of protected trees and violating advertisement provisions are set to rise exponentially as the UT administration is working on amending the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952.

In a bid to rein in these violations, it has proposed to increase the penalty from the current ₹500 to ₹2 lakh.

Fine for each day during which the offence is proved to have continued after the first day, is also proposed to be increased from ₹20 to ₹8,000 per day.

“Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 4 or Section 6 of the Act shall, on conviction, be punishable with fine, which may extend to ₹2 lakh, and a further fine, which may extend to ₹8,000 for each day during which the offence is proved to have continued after the first day,” states the draft amendment, with respect to the building misuse violations.

The penalty is also proposed to be increased by 5% annually. However, the maximum penalty levied on any person may not exceed 20% of the total value of the property calculated as per the prevalent collector rate on the date of adjudication.

Amendment in Section 14 of the Act, which relates to penalty for contravention of Trees Preservation Order and Advertisements Control Order, has also been proposed.

Under it, the chief administrator can prohibit the cutting down, topping, lopping or wilful destruction of trees. Also, the official can regulate the advertisements in Chandigarh.

If any person contravenes any provision of these orders, they will, on conviction, be punishable with fine, which may extend to ₹2 lakh instead of the current ₹500.

Whoever continues to contravene the provisions even after conviction, can be fined ₹8,000 instead of current ₹20 for each day of continued contravention, after the previous date of conviction. The penalty as prescribed above will be increased by 5% annually, the administration has proposed.

Similarly, the administration has proposed a fine of ₹2 lakh instead of current ₹500 for breach of rules under Section 15 of the Act. Here too, an additional fine if up to ₹8,000 per day, if the violation continues after the first conviction, has been proposed. Currently, it is ₹20 per day. The penalty will be increased 5% annually.

All the proposed amendments will be prospective in nature. The administration has sought feedback and suggestions from the general public in 10 days. The suggestions can be submitted to the office of the Joint Secretary (Estates), Room Number 418, fourth floor, UT Secretariat, Sector 9, Chandigarh.

The draft, after public feedback, will be sent to the Union ministry of home affairs for getting approval from the cabinet.