NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to remove all illegal religious structures from roads and footpaths in the city by August 31. The HC bench comprising Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Murlidhar Giratkar also directed the NMC to submit within two weeks an affidavit detailing about the action taken in this regard.
The HC bench issued these directives while hearing a petition after residents and religious establishments had opposed the NMC’s anti-encroachment drive against illegal religious structures in the city.
Advocate Firdaus Mirza appeared for the petitioner, senior advocate C S Kaptan represented the NMC while advocate Sumant Deopujari appeared for the State government during the hearing in the HC.
In its affidavit, the NMC informed the court that only 12 illegal structures were remaining to be removed from city roads and that the action will be taken by August 31. The court was also informed that 368 establishments had raised objections and also deposited amount as per orders. The court asked the NMC to check whether the areas, from where religious structures were removed, were not encroached upon again, and also to mention this information in the affidavit.
During the hearing, a separate petition was filed for a religious structure in Laxmi Nagar. The petition informed that the religious structure on an open plot was being taken care of by 21 local residents. When the court asked each of the members to deposit Rs 10,000 each, they informed that they had already deposit Rs 50,000 as per earlier order. However, when the court asked whether the structure was regularized, they had no documents to prove that the structure was authorized with any local body.
