Ahmedabad, Aug 10 The Gujarat High Court on Monday observed that an inquiry into the "illegal" demolition at Nasirnagar in Surat will prove to be "nothing but a farce" if senior municipal and police officers remain in their posts throughout the probe.
The bench of Justice Nikhil Kariel noted that to ensure justice is done, the state government must not permit senior officers, including the Surat municipal commissioner and the deputy commissioner of police, to remain on duty while a committee investigates the May 30 drive that rendered nearly 150 persons homeless.
The bench passed the order on a plea filed by 26 displaced residents challenging the demolition at Nasirnagar.
For senior-most officers to continue in the post in question would result in the inquiry being "nothing but a farce", it said.
The court also questioned the Surat Municipal Commissioner's proposal to rehabilitate the affected persons under the housing scheme for the economically-weaker section (EWS) with the help of an NGO.
It noted that the burden of ensuring that people whose homes have been demolished "lies squarely on the shoulders of the corporation and state authorities", and they cannot be permitted to skirt the responsibility.
The court sought the government and Surat Municipal Corporation's instructions and scheduled it for further hearing on August 14.
The state government had earlier informed the court that it constituted a committee to inquire into whether the demolition was carried out as per due process under the Gujarat Municipal Corporation Act, 1949.
It said the committee would look into the roles of the senior-most officers of the Surat civic body and police officers present at the demolition site on May 30, as well as private individuals.
The committee is also empowered to recommend appropriate action at the administrative level for disciplinary proceedings against the concerned officers, in an inquiry to be concluded within two months, the government stated in its affidavit.
The court observed that while the corporation had taken action against its junior officers over allegations of misconduct, the senior-most officers of the civic body and the police should also not be permitted to continue till the investigation is over.
"...For ensuring that justice is seen to be done, it would be imperative that the officers, however senior he or she may be, should not be permitted to continue in the post till the committee inquires into the issue," it added.
The SMC had earlier suspended five junior officers in the matter.
The bench further noted that when the demolition carried out in the locality on May 30 was prima facie illegal, alloting residences to the affected persons under the EWS scheme wherein NGOs would make payments on their behalf, including a draft of Rs 20,000 with the application and the construction cost of Rs 5.5 lakh, was not permissible.
"The state and the SMC could not be permitted to skirt the responsibility as regards the persons whose residences have been demolished without any authority of law," it noted.
The municipal commissioner, in his affidavit, had stated that the plot in question belonged to certain private individuals who had sought to develop through third parties, and on March 12, a plot validation certificate was sought but was rejected.
When the developer requested to carry out physical demarcation of the street line, some SMC officers informed the police about demarcation to be undertaken on May 30 and the demolition was carried out in the course of the process.
