SC of India refuses plea on Gurugram demolitions, sends petitioners to HC

The Supreme Court of India declined to hear a plea against Gurugram demolitions, directing petitioners to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court said it should not hinder action against unauthorised constructions amid ongoing enforcement drives

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition against the ongoing demolition drive in Gurugram, and asked the petitioners to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi disposed of the plea, granting liberty to the petitioners to make an urgent mentioning before the high court during the course of the day.
The bench requested the high court’s chief justice to entertain the mentioning either at 1 PM or immediately after lunch at 1.45 pm.

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Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, argued before the bench that the local authorities have been carrying out the demolition drive without issuing show-cause notices to the residents by misconstruing an interim order of the high court.

The bench observed that if the high court’s interim order was allegedly being misconstrued by the authorities, then the petitioners should approach the high court. “If the high court, in its constitutional duty, is taking a drive to stop or prevent or dismantle the unauthorised constructions, then as an apex body, why should we cause hindrance?” the CJI observed.

Arguing that the high court had not said anything about the demolition, Sankaranarayanan urged the bench to grant status quo for three to four days and said that the petitioners would approach the high court. “These are completely legal constructions,” he said, adding that petitioners were individual residents and the authorities were undertaking the demolition drive without giving any show-cause notices to them.

On April 2, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in an interim order, stayed the operation of the Haryana government’s ‘stilt-plus-four floors’ building policy, which permits the construction of four residential floors above stilt parking. Flagging serious concerns, the court observed that the state appears to have put public safety at risk merely to earn more revenue.

The interim order came on a petition challenging the July 2, 2024 order issued by the additional chief secretary of the town and country planning department. The order had permitted construction of ‘stilt-plus-four floors’ on residential plots, raising the earlier cap of ‘stilt-plus-three floors’.

It had also introduced a composition mechanism even in cases where building plans had not been approved. Following the high court’s stay, the Haryana officials launched an anti-encroachment campaign against unauthorised constructions and encroachments across urban areas, beginning with Gurugram.