Unauthorised constructions: HC finds UP govt's affidavit dissatisfactory, asks it to file again

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Monday expressed serious dissatisfaction over the Uttar Pradesh government's affidavit narrating the manner in which action was being taken against unauthorised constructions in urban areas across Uttar Pradesh.

The Lucknow bench of the high court returned the personal affidavit of the principal secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Planning to the state counsel, asking him to come up with a better affidavit on February 12.

A bench of Justice A R Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on a pending PIL moved by Lt Col (retired) Ashok Kumar in 2012.

During the last hearing, the bench had expressed serious concern that the state and Lucknow Development Authority did not take any further action against the constructions which were declared illegal about 12 years ago and orders were also passed for demolishing them.

It had sought the personal affidavit of the principal secretary about steps being taken to curb the illegal constructions.

In compliance with that order, a personal affidavit of the principal secretary was filed on Monday, but the bench declined to take it on record.

"The affidavit filed by the Principal Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Planning, UP is dissatisfactory. Hence, the same is returned to the learned state counsel for filing a better affidavit," the bench said.

It added, "We make it clear that a complete scheme needs to be evolved for dealing with the menace of unauthorized constructions in the residential, commercial and industrial areas. The state must come out with a complete plan as to how such unauthorised constructions, apart from the process of compounding, are going to be dealt with." "We also make it clear that the compounding of the buildings, by no means, can be permitted to alter the foundational structure of the sanctioned plans and wherever the structure up to plinth level deviating the sanctioned plans has been raised, necessary survey deserves to be undertaken for dealing with the matters sternly," the bench added.