The Supreme Court has canceled the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, under which instructions were given to remove unauthorized and illegal construction in DLF City of Gurugram. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi said the direction was issued without giving an opportunity of hearing to the property owners, who were not made parties to the suits.
The bench said that in the present case, the directions issued by the High Court, whether with regard to the jurisdiction of the civil court or removal of constructions, appear to have been given to the petitioners without making them parties to the writ petition.
The court said, ‘It is needless to say that to ensure fair justice, it is essential to give an opportunity of being heard and the court should not pass judgment on the rights of any party whose side has not been heard.’ However, the bench, in its order passed on October 28, said that unauthorized or illegal construction built contrary to norms, rules and regulations for commercial use on residential property cannot be given protection.
The court said, ‘We make it clear that if any affected person applies to the High Court within the specified time, he will also be allowed to attend (the hearing). The State authorities are free to give wide publicity to this order to involve the affected persons in the PIL.
The bench said that if the affected persons do not apply to attend the hearing within two weeks, the High Court is free to consider the issue and take a decision. The High Court had directed the officials to take action within two months under Section 15 of the Haryana Urban Area Development and Regulation Act 1975. The state government had presented a detailed summary of the case before the High Court, pointing out several violations in the construction by various residents of the Gurugram area.