Construction on forest land: HC seeks state view
The Rajasthan high court on Monday sought to know the state government’s stand on regularisation of construction on pasture and forest lands.
The court has also expressed resentment over ignoring the master plan in urban areas.
A division bench of justices Sangeet Lodha and Arun Bhansali, while hearing a public interest litigation, also directed the government to submit status report of pasture lands in all the districts.
On January 12, the court gave guidelines to effectively implement the master plan in urban areas.
Advocate general NM Lodha on Monday submitted the compliance report in the court on behalf of the state government, on which the court expressed dissatisfaction.
Justice Lodha said in the last four months, the state government has issued circulars for regularisation of unauthorised colonies on agricultural lands, unlike the directives of the high court.
The government is making efforts to bypass the court orders, while no concrete steps have been taken to implement the directions.
During the hearing, amicus curiae MS Singhvi told the court that the Supreme Court and the high courts have ordered not to regularise any kind of construction on the pasture and forest land, in contrast, the additional chief secretary of the state rural development and panchayat raj department has issued an order on April 20 to regularise the construction on pasture lands and forest lands.
Taking this seriously, the court ordered the advocate general to clear the state government’s stand. Petitioner Poonam Chand Bhandari told the court that in Jaipur, many multi-storey buildings were being constructed against norms.
Officers of the Jaipur Development Authority and Municipal Corporation are not taking any action, she said.
The court asked the advocate general to submit reply on all these issues on June 2.