Rebuild huts destroyed in Kacharakanahalli: Karnataka HC orders state

The Karnataka High Court on Friday passed an interim order directing the state government to rebuild the labourers’ huts destroyed in Kacharakanahalli by encroachers of government land during the lockdown.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka pulled up the government for its inaction. It observed that the huts were blazed down on two occasions in March, while, in a third incident, unknown people flattened the remaining huts with JCB machines. Nearly 170 families lost their houses.

“Thus, it is not a solitary incident. The entire machinery of the state government was aware of this incident. Till this court intervened, there was no attempt made to rehabilitate the affected families. Therefore, in our view, prima facie the state government has failed to uphold the fundamental right to shelter under Article 21 of the Constitution. Even as far as compensation is concerned the entire exercise commenced after this court registered a suo motu petition,” the court said.

It said the state government did not make any genuine attempt to rehabilitate those who lost their houses besides paying them compensation for the lost house and household articles. It also charged the state government for ignoring the miscreants who crushed the huts to use the government land as a parking space for their wedding hall.

“The only option available before us is to direct the state government to reconstruct the huts by adopting a uniform design. The reconstruction will obviously not create equity in favour of the occupants of the structures. The state government can take action against illegal occupancy in accordance with the law,” the court said.

It also asked the government to distribute the compensation within three weeks. Reconstruction of the huts should also be completed within two months from the time when the order is web-hosted.

The court also said the huts must be rebuilt as far as possible in the same place where the destroyed structures stood.