SRIKRISHNA NAGAR NIWASI SANGH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE four writ petitions have been filed at the instance of the residents of Shri Krishna Nagar, a housing colony in this town, under the Bihar State Housing Board. There is a single petitioner each in CWJC Nos.465 and 567. of 1999; in CWJC No. 62 of 1999 there are four petitioners and CWJC No.652 of 1999 has been filed by an organisation, claiming to represent the allottees of houses and plots of lands in S.K.Nagar. The petitioners have come to this court seeking its protection against threatened demolition of their boundary walls and/or portions of their houses. The threat of demolition has arisen by the action of the Housing Board in putting the red marks on the boundary walls/houses in S.K.Nagar. The red mark is put to indicate the extent to which the boundary walls/portions of the houses were required to be demolished.

(2.) THE practice of putting red marks on houses/structures by statutory authorities, local bodies and the administration (often on the basis of ex parte measurements) for indicating to the house owner the extent to Raj Kumar Ram Versus State Of Bihar which the house/structure was required to be demolished is currently in vogue in this State and particularly in this town on the plea of carrying out the directions given by a bench of this court in CWJC No. 2290 of 1990 : Arun Kumar Mukherjee V/s. State of Bihar and ors. This is the experience of this court, however, that there is considerable misapprehensions regarding the directions of this court in Arun Kumar Mukherjee. Those directions are sought to be enforced on fact situations where those have no application in terms of the express orders of this court. It has also come to the notice of this court that many excesses have been committed in the name of complying with the directions given in Arun Kumar Mukherjee (see Bhola Sah V/s. State of Bihar and ors : 1999 (2) P.L.J.R. 851)

(3.) ONCE this aspect of the matter is clearly understood the actions of the Housing Board would plainly appear to be unreasonable, arbitrary and untenable in law.