SURABATHULA KOTESWARAMMA Vs. VIJAYAWADA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On receipt of a notice issued under section 452 of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, calling upon her to remove the 1st and second floors of her building constructed without prior permission as required under the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, made applicable to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, the petitioner claims to have submitted a representation to the respondent seeking exemption of the unauthorised structures from the provisions of the Act, either on payment or without payment of compounding fee.

(2.) The counsel appearing for the respondent submitted that no such representation was mads. The petitioner is therefore given four weeks' time from today to submit a copy of the representation claimed to have been made to the respondent, for appropriate action. On receipt of such representation, the respondent shall pass appropriate orders within four weeks. Until then, the respondent either by himself or by their subordinates shall not destroy or demolish any portion of the building of thw petitioner.

(3.) It is noticed in a number of cases coming up before this court in the recent past that hardly four weeks' time is granted by the local bodies before calling upon citizens to remove or pull down unauthorised structures. It has been pointed out by me that all such actions are absolutely high-handed. It is, therefore- made clear that local bodies, Municipalities and Corporations, shall issue notices to the builders, residing within their limits, giving them aleast six weeks' time to show cause against such notices. I must also observe that in cases where buildings have been constructed without obtaining prior permission of the local bodies, Municipalities and Corporations, the desirability of condoning the same by levying a reasonable compounding fee should be considered, particularly when the unauthorised constructions do not affect any public interest or pose any public injury.