SC sets aside Cal High Court demolition order

Kolkata: The Supreme Court has set aside a Calcutta High Court order directing demolition of a residential-commercial building near Santiniketan, holding that the High Court acted on assumptions without reliable evidence that the land involved was environmentally protected “khoai” land.

The case arose from a PIL filed before the Calcutta High Court challenging a multi-storied construction raised by a private developer on a 0.39-acre plot at Mouza Ballavpur in Birbhum district, close to the Visva-Bharati University area.

The High Court had ordered demolition of the structure, imposed Rs 10 lakh compensation for restoration of the area, and directed action against officials of the Sriniketan-Santiniketan Development Authority, land reforms authorities and local panchayat bodies. Allowing the appeals, the Supreme Court held that “khoai” is not a recognised land classification under West Bengal revenue laws and that no contemporaneous scientific or documentary material established that the disputed plot itself possessed such characteristics.

The court noted that inspection reports relied upon by the High Court only referred to adjacent areas and did not conclusively identify the subject plot as “khoai” land.

The court further observed that the land was privately owned, recorded as “danga” in revenue records, and earmarked for residential use under the applicable development plan.

Holding that the PIL cannot be used to selectively target individual constructions on disputed facts, the court quashed the demolition and compensation orders.

Supreme Court also imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the writ petitioners for suppression of material facts, directing the amount to be deposited with the West Bengal Legal Services Authority.