'Kudos to HC': Supreme Court refuses to halt demolition of illegal structures in Thane's green zones

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday lauded the decision of the Bombay High Court, while refusing to interfere with an order for demolishing 17 structures illegally built in green zones in Thane.

“For once, the High Court has taken a very courageous stand and we appreciate it," a bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan said.

The court referred to the clear finding of the high court regarding the involvement of the underworld in the illegal constructions, which could have happened only in collusion with municipal bodies.

“Kudos to the high court for taking the right decision. See, you encroached on some third party’s land and built a property without taking any sanctions. There is no rule of law and please see, these are persons with underworld connections," the bench told the counsel, appearing for a home buyer.

The court noted that the construction was undertaken without any permission from the planning authority and the land belonging to a third party was grabbed.

As the court was informed that the petitioner was a home buyer, the bench said that putting a noble soul in front was a “good strategy” but the high court had recorded the fact that the underworld was behind all such “enormous construction in a posh area”.

"Next, your Bombay will get encroached. That's all that remains to be done. Please feel for your city, otherwise everything will get encroached. For once, the Bombay High Court has taken a very courageous stand and we appreciate it," the bench emphasised.

The court also said it is shocked to see that some people have the guts to come before this court.

"For once, the high court has woken up and tried to establish the rule of law. How many buildings have you constructed without taking any sanctions,” the bench further posed the query.

The court felt that unless there is action against these unscrupulous builders, this trend will continue, and people will continue to do gorilla fighting using the others.

The bench pointed out illegal constructions could not have been brought to light had an innocent woman not come forward claiming that her land was occupied and buildings had come on it.

The bench asked the petitioner Danish Zaheer Siddiqui, who has challenged the June 12 order to move the high court for review.

The petitioner claimed that of the 17 buildings, eight had been demolished, which had rendered a minimum 400 families homeless. The petitioner claimed to be one of the purchasers of the flat in one of the 17 buildings.