The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday directed the Bengaluru city Police Commissioner to form a squad to provide adequate security and protection to officers of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to demolish religious structures illegally built on public places.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi issued the direction when the BBMP pointed out that it could not demolish an illegally constructed temple on the open park space on 9th Main Road, Srirampura, owing to protest by public at large on February 25 despite police protection. The temple was illegally constructed by Gangaiamma Festival Committee, Srirampura.
The Bench said the squad, having adequate number of police personnel, both armed police and women police, should be deployed for protection and the squad should ensure that the public are prevented from gathering around the illegal religious structures. It is the duty of the police to assist the civic authorities in demolition of illegally built structures in accordance with the law, it said.
Senior Counsel Anant Mandgi, appearing for the BBMP, pointed out that officers of the civic body could not carry out demolition of illegally built religious structures owing to opposition from the public at large and emphasised the requirement of better police security for such operations as deployment of a few police personnel for protection will not be sufficient.
Illegal structures
Meanwhile, the BBMP on Wednesday informed that there are only 83 illegal religious structures (temples/churches/mosques/ gurdwaras) built on public land prior to September 29, 2009 in the eight zones of the city and only 17 such illegal religious structures were built after September 29, 2009, which is the cut-off date fixed by the apex court to not allow any illegal structures built after this date.
The Bench was hearing a PIL petition initiated suo motu to monitor implementation of the apex court’s direction to remove illegal religious structures on public properties and other PIL petitions related to illegal religious structures.
In another PIL petition, which has sought demolition of another illegal temple built abutting a footpath in Jayanagar 4th Block, the Bench said residents’ association should not support illegal religious structures when a person, claiming to be secretary of a group of residents’ association opposed demolition of a temple of Muneshwara Swamy.
Interestingly, the intervenor claimed that the deity was placed in the said location in the 1800s, but the Bench, on going through photographs, wondered whether such structures could have been built during the 1800s as they appeared to have been built recently.