DB treat writ as PIL regarding Failure to frame bye-laws of Municipal
JKUT (Jammu), October-08-2021-( JNF):- Division Bench of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Comprising Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal treated the LPA seeking framing of Bye-Law of Municipal as Public Interest Litigation and arrayed Chief Secretary and Commissioner Secretary as respondents and directed Sr. AAG to inform the status/progress of bye-laws within six weeks.
It is worthwhile to mention here that earlier Division Bench of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court comprising Justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur and Justice Puneet Gupta while deciding a Letter Patents Appeal after hearing Advocate Vilakshan Singh for the appellant and Advocate SS Nanda Sr. AAG and Advocate Suresh Sharma for respondents has taken a serious note of the failure of the Municipal Committees and Municipal Councils to frame Building By Laws Regulations, master plans or building Schemes. The court observed that while the Building By Laws, Master Plans have been framed for cities of Jammu and Srinagar but some of the smaller towns governed by Municipal Committees and Municipal Councils are still having no building By-Laws, master plans or Schemes. The court also found it understandable as to how in the absence of a building scheme, master plan, building By Laws and regulations, Municipal Committee Sunderbani, to which the matter pertained, was proceeding to exercise powers sanctioning the plans and compounding the Building violations.
The court held that the net result of the omission to frame By laws, regulations, schemes on the part of Municipal Committees or the Deputy Commissioners of the Districts in which the Municipal Committee/Councils fall is that the large scale construction activity is being permitted to go on without any sort of regulation whatsoever. The court further observed that there was no justification in denying the citizens living in smaller towns the civil rights which ought to be protected by framing/enforcing the building by laws and by regulating the construction activity for planned development.
The court further observed that right to enjoy civil rights in a locality in a peaceful and orderly manner having adequate amount of sunshine, free flow of air and access/use of public roads and utilities is not a right which can be denied to citizens living in smaller cities and towns. The court also made an observation that omission on the part of Municipal Committees and the concerned Deputy Commissioners to enforce framing of a scheme in terms of Section 205 of the Municipal Act has resulted in encouraging totally unregulated construction activities with total disregard to the interest of citizens living in that area.
Keeping in view the seriousness of the matter the court directed all the Deputy Commissioners other than the Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Srinagar also the Chief Executive officers/ executive officers of Municipal committees and Municipal councils to file affidavits as to whether the provisions of the Municipal Act 2000 have been complied with in their respective districts/municipal committees/municipal councils by way of framing of town planning schemes/master plans and building By Laws for an orderly development and regulations of building activities in their respective regions. The court further directed that the affidavits so filed should state reasons for inaction and proposed time lines within which the same shall be framed. The court directed the matter to be registered and taken up as a PIL.
Today Division Bench of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Comprising Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajnesh Oswal after hearing Adv Vilakshan Singh appearing for the appellant Som Nath whereas Sr. AAG SS Nanda for the Housing Department observed that a Division Bench of this Court while hearing LPA No.75/2021, Som Nath v. State of J&K in its judgment has observed that in the absence of the Rules/Regulations/Bye-laws/
Division Bench after going through the judgment directed registry that the PIL be registered as ‘Court on its own motion v. Union Territory of J&K through its Chief Secretary and Commissioner/Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department.
Sr. AAG S S Nanda, appearing for the respondents, submitted that in respect of some municipalities, building bye-laws are already in place and in respect of all other urban bodies, the Union Territory has framed a set of bye-laws which are in the final stage.
DB grants six weeks’ time to inform of the status/progress of the said bye-laws. JNF