Contempt of court petition filed against authorities for illegal constructions in Navi

A Koparkhairane resident has filed a contempt of court petition in the Bombay High Court on Thursday against all the concerned planning authorities for mushrooming illegal constructions in the city. These include the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Commissioner of Police.

Activist Rajiv Mishra has filed the petition as the legal recourse to his original PIL filed in 2013 that highlighted the issue of undeterred growth of illegal constructions on government-owned lands. The petitioner, through the PIL, had brought to the notice of the Court the failure of the planning authorities to prevent large-scale illegal constructions and their failure to perform their statutory duties to remove the illegal constructions.

“There were corrective steps to be taken by each of these planning authorities. These included conducting a city survey of the illegal structures, setting up a grievance redressal system wherein anonymous complaints too can be made and, most importantly, conduct demolition drives. There has been no compliance on any of the directives. The situation has only worsened, illegal constructions have now mushroomed everywhere and authorities continue to turn a blind eye,” said Mishra.

The petitioner has alleged that the authorities were hand-in-glove with the building mafia and furnished additional proofs to the court highlighting the rampant increase in illegal construction in the recent times.

Through Right to Information act (RTI), the activist has availed information on the number of fresh notices issued by all the authorities against illegal constructions. “Ideally, the authorities are required to initiate demolition drives of illegal buildings by issuing just 24 hours’ notice. This system is never followed. Even the FIRs lodged against illegal constructions are turning out to be pointless as the buildings which were G + 1 are now G + 7 structures. Between 2020 and 2022, I have personally filed complaints on the online grievance portal of NMMC against 101 new illegal constructions and till date, there is no compliance. In fact, the additional municipal commissioner has sent three reminders to the ward offices but none of the eight wards has bothered to even respond. Thus, the need was felt to file the contempt petition,” said Mishra.

The police department has been accused in the petition to have withdrawn the police security given to Mishra and therefore endangering his life. When contacted, all the three planning authorities as well the commissioner of police said that they’d be responding to the petition as and when they receive the notice through their legal department.