Himachal earns Supreme Court’s ire for “non-implementation” of law

Demolition squad raze the illegal floor of a guest house where a woman government official was shot dead by its owner at Dharampur near Kasauli, in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh on May 2, 2018.

Demolition squad raze the illegal floor of a guest house where a woman government official was shot dead by its owner at Dharampur near Kasauli, in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh on May 2, 2018.   | Photo Credit: Akhilesh Kumar

‘Can’t encourage people to break law’

The Supreme Court on Thursday rapped the Himachal Pradesh government for the “non-implementation” of law which led to the daylight murder of a government official heading an apex court-ordered demolition drive at Kasauli in the State.

A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur, which had ordered the demolition and on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the murder, said the State could not encourage people to break the law.

Shail Bala Sharma, an assistant town planning officer, was shot dead by a Kasauli hotel owner in broad daylight amidst dozens of police personnel who were there to ensure the safety of officials like her.

The Bench said it viewed the Kasauli incident as a “huge problem” for the future.

The Bench asked the State government to file a status report in the case and ensure that steps are taken against unauthorised constructions.

“The death is not a result of the court’s order. It is a result of non-implementation of the law. The incident is very unfortunate,” Justice Lokur observed.

The Bench asked counsel to brief it about the steps taken against those who had made illegal constructions in other parts of the State.

It observed that “newspaper reports say he [accused] was working in the electricity department. From where did he get the money to have this property? There may be a Prevention of Corruption Act case also. Look at it and find it out.”

(With PTI inputs)