Bombay HC grants interim protection from demolition to over 200 people residing in vicinity of Malegaon fort
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from demolition to over 200 people residing near the vicinity of a fort, an archeological site at Malegaon in Nashik district, who were sent eviction notices by the tehsildar.
The HC granted interim protection from coercive action to the petitioners pending their plea challenging the government resolution seeking eviction of people residing near the site. The court also asked the state government's lawyer Kavita N Solunke to file an affidavit in reply to the plea.
A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan was on May 30 hearing a plea by Mohammad Rajjab Khan Mohammad Khan and Shakeel Ahmed Mohammad Israil, residents of Killa (fort) area at Raviwar Ward in Malegaon, who claimed to have filed it on behalf of themselves and over 200 other residents, challenging fresh eviction notice, apprehending demolition.
The petitioners, through advocate Manisha Desai, claimed while a gymkhana and a school are already running inside the archeological site, no action has been taken against them. However, arbitrary action has been initiated only against the occupants who are outside the archaeological site. She submitted that the petitioners were informed by the tehsildar that a fresh order for eviction and demolition had been issued against them.
The petitioners whose residential structures are on land belonging to the Nashik district Collector claimed the houses have been existing for over 40 years.
The petitioners claimed that after they learnt from a news report that the encroachments in the fort will be removed, they came to know from the Collector's office that the state culture and tourism department on January 20 had under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959 had issued a Government Resolution (GR).
The GR ordered demolition of unauthorised structures on 47 forts protected by the central government and 62 protected by the archeological department, across the state. A committee headed by the Collector was to be constituted and submit a report, and between February and May this year, the encroachments were to be demolished.
The petitioners were informed that their structures are also liable to be removed, after which they approached the HC challenging it.
The vacation bench noted that on May 8, a coordinate bench, while hearing another plea relating to similarly placed over 100 petitioners, had directed that no coercive measures be taken against their structures and if at all it is to be taken, due procedure of law by issuing showcause notice be followed and same interim protection from eviction and demolition to those petitioners was extended through May 29 order.
On May 30, the bench noted that facts of the present case are similar to facts of the matter in which interim protection was already granted.
The court asked Solunke to take instructions about the same and said that the copy of fresh order of eviction be supplied to petitioners' lawyer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
HC directs for clearance certificate to stalking accused for passport renewal
Mumbai, The Bombay High Court has directed the city police and the passport department to issue a clearance certificate to a man accused in a stalking case to renew his passport so that he can travel to Canada for studies. The police ought to have issued the certificate when the man has been permitted to travel abroad by the court, a division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Advait Sethna said in an order passed last month. In the present case, the Malad police here in April this year issued a negative report on the ground that a criminal case was pending against the man. The man moved the HC, challenging the negative certificate issued by the police to the passport authorities and seeking a direction to the passport office to issue him a clearance certificate so that his passport could be renewed. In his plea, the man said a magistrate's court, before which his trial is pending, has granted permission for his passport to be renewed. A single bench of the HC in April permitted the man to travel abroad for the time period of the course he has secured admission in, the petition added. The high court in its order said when a directive has been issued by the magistrate permitting renewal of the passport in November 2024, then the police could not have issued a negative report. It was not the case of any of the authorities that the man was not authorised and/or entitled to travel abroad, the bench said. "If this be the case then certainly such travel cannot remain a paper formality," the HC said. The court noted the man's present passport is valid till 2026 and he has already been granted a visa by the Canadian government. "We are of the opinion that the officer in-charge of the Malad police station needs to grant a 'Clear Police Verification Report' to the passport department forthwith," the HC bench said. It quashed the negative report submitted by the police in April and directed it to issue a 'Clear Police Verification Report' in favour of the man. This verification report shall then be submitted to the passport authorities for issuance of a final police clearance certificate, the bench ordered. In 2017, an FIR was lodged against the man in Malad on charges of stalking, criminal intimidation and using words or gestures outraging the modesty of a woman. The case is pending before the magistrate's court. The man in his plea said he is desirous of pursuing a Chartered Accountant course in Canada and has secured admission for the same. Last year, the man filed an application before the magistrate's court seeking permission for the renewal of his passport and for a direction to the police to issue him a clearance certificate. Advocate D P Singh, appearing for the passport authority, submitted to the court that the department would grant a clearance certificate only after receiving a positive report from the police station concerned.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Mahayuti reverses pre-election hike in crop loss compensation to farmers
MUMBAI: The Mahayuti government, which had hiked the compensation for crop losses before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, cancelled this on Friday and restored a 2023 order which will leave farmers with reduced compensation. With this, the government will save the money it would have had to shell out to farmers for the damages they suffered on account of heavy rains in the past few days. Following the rains, the administration began a survey of the damage to crops and on Friday, a government resolution (GR) was issued. 'The state cabinet has decided to give compensation to farmers as per the criteria decided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDRF). So from Kharif 2025, the compensation criteria would be followed as per the order dated March 27, 2023 and the order issued in this regard on January 1, 2024 has been cancelled,' states the GR. Compensation for farmers is calculated on the basis of crop loss. A particular amount is decided for per-hectare loss based on the type of farming, besides which a limit is put on compensation. The limit, which was two hectares or five acres in the March 2023 order, was hiked to three hectares (or 7.5 acres) by the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government in January 2024. Through the GR issued on Friday, the limit was reversed to two hectares. The GR also reduced the compensation on different types of farmland: non-irrigated, irrigated and horticulture. The January 2024 GR had hiked the compensation rate for non-irrigated crops from ₹8,500 per hectare to ₹13,600. For crops on irrigated land, it was increased from ₹17,000 per hectare to ₹27,000. For cash crops and fruits, it was hiked to ₹22,500 to ₹36,000 per hectare. All this stands to be reversed now. The losses to farmers are significant. For example, a farmer owning non-irrigated land would have got up to ₹40,800 in compensation for crop loss on three hectares. Now he will get a maximum of ₹17,000. After the unseasonal rains in 2023, the then Mahayuti government under chief minister Eknath Shinde, with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls that year, had issued the increased compensation order on January 1, 2024. Farmer leader and former MP Raju Shetti said that the Mahayuti government had betrayed farmers by cancelling the additional compensation after winning the elections and getting the farmers' votes. 'The Mahayuti government came to power by offering various sops to different sectors,' he said. 'But after winning the elections, it has betrayed all those who voted for it on the strength of sops like Ladki Bahin. This cancellation of additional aid given to farmers in 2024 is another example. This government is a cheat.' As per the economic survey of Maharashtra, the average agricultural land holding in Maharashtra is 1.34 hectare (3.35 acres) but in areas like Vidarbha (where farmers are already under stress) it is above five acres.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
HC temporarily restrains demolition 220 families' residences in Malegaon fort
MUMBAI: In a reprieve for 220 families residing in the Bhuikot Killa, the Malegaon fort, the Bombay high court on Friday restrained the revenue department from acting on demolition notices issued. The vacation bench of justice Gauri Godse and justice Somasekhar Sundaresan was hearing a petition filed by resident Mohammad Rajjab Khan, and other residents of the fort. According to the petition, the tourism and cultural affairs department of the state government issued a Government Resolution (GR) on January 20, instructing district collectors to remove all encroachments from the 47 forts protected by the Central Government and 62 forts protected by the archaeology department as per the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1969. Following the GR, the Malegaon tehsildar issued eviction and demolition notices to the residents of the fort in March and April 2025, prompting them to approach the high court. Residents contended that they have been residing in the structures for 40 years and have necessary documents like electricity bills, house tax, water tax bills, ration cards etc. They added that an educational institute is running a school and a junior college at the fort's centre, and a separate girls' school is also located within the fort premises. These schools are using the open space in the fort as their playground. Demolition notices were issued to individual residents only, not these establishments, said the petitioners. Advocate Manisha Desai said a regular bench on May 8 granted protection to some residents after noting that schools and a gymkhana were functioning out of the fort area. The petitioner also claimed that the authorities turned a blind eye to several unauthorised structures within the fort and are selectively targeting the residents of the surrounding localities, falling outside the fort precinct. Desai also pointed out that the tehsildar passed fresh orders on May 26 for eviction and demolition of the residential structures. However, these were not served to the petitioners. Against this backdrop, the vacation bench restrained the revenue authorities from taking any coercive steps against the petitioners' structures. It also directed the additional government pleader Kavita N Solunke to take instruction as to whether the Tehsildar had passed any fresh orders for eviction and demolition and to file affidavits in reply to the petitions by June 10, when the petitions would come up for further hearing.
