HC declares demolition of community centre in Cuttack dist ‘illegal'
Cuttack: Terming the act as an instance of 'bulldozer justice', Orissa high court has declared the demolition of a community centre in Balipur village under Athagarh tehsil in Cuttack district illegal and ordered to provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the youth association which was managing the facility.
The structure stood on 0.05 acres of gochar (grazing) land and had served vital public functions, including holding health camps, awareness drives and govt outreach programmes.
The demolition, carried out in an encroachment case by revenue authorities on Dec 14 last year was allegedly executed without giving the villagers or the youth association adequate time to seek legal redress. The community had even offered to exchange homestead land for the portion used, but their pleas were apparently not heard.
The association filed a petition in HC seeking a direction to declare the demolition of the structure as illegal, order its reconstruction at govt expense, award compensation for loss and initiate proceedings against officials responsible for it.
Justice S K Panigrahi, in his June 20 judgment, observed that it is not the bulldozer per se that offends constitutional sensibilities, but the ease with which it is deployed before the law has spoken its final word.
The judgment criticised the haste shown by the tehsildar, who acted in violation of Supreme Court guidelines and subsisting judicial orders.
Of the Rs 10 lakh compensation awarded, Rs 2 lakh will be recovered in instalments from the salary of the tehsildar, citing his direct role in the demolition. The remaining Rs 8 lakh is to be paid by the state govt within eight weeks, Justice Panigrahi specified in his order. He also directed the initiation of departmental proceedings against the tehsildar and mandated the chief secretary and revenue secretary to ensure compliance.
Further, the chief secretary has been instructed to issue comprehensive guidelines for all revenue and municipal officials, aligning with the SC's directives to prevent future violations of this nature.
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