PATNA: Irked with the partial action of
Patna municipal corporation (PMC), the
Patna high court on Thursday ordered its authorities to remove every single encroachment on road between
Patna railway junction and GPO roundabout before September 20 at any cost.
The division bench of chief
justice MR Shah and Justice Ashutosh Kumar was hearing a
public interest litigation (PIL) filed by
New Market Dukaandar Kalyan Samiti in which it has urged the court for stopping the PMC officials from pulling down sign boards as they are not encroachments on road.
The shopkeepers had also prayed that they were running the shop in the area for at least two decades and their sign boards were along with the wall of their shops.
However, the chief justice pointed out the samiti’s counsel to read provisions of laws against encroachment in which even a board projected on road is considered as an encroachment.
The samiti, through it counsel, also submitted a counter affidavit before the high court with photographs of the market area as annexure, displaying that PMC officials were not taking action against road side encroachers selling items on push carts and stands to remove them even though they are eminently visible, but instead were going behind the shopkeepers for their sign boards.
The chief justice asked the PMC the reason that why they have not removed the encroachers. He also made verbal remark that he has got to know that encroachment was resurfacing in several areas where PMC has taken up anti-encroachment drive.
The court ordered the PMC to file a counter affidavit before September 20, on which next hearing on the issue would take place again.
