The High Court said the land belongs to the city and not the individual sitting in the government office, so it has to be returned to the public.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered a probe into the trust which built the famous Hanuman statue in the busy Karol Bagh area of the city, saying the 108-feet structure could not have built overnight without the "active connivance" of the local authorities.
Had the authorities done their duty, something like this would not have happened, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar observed while ordering a probe into the trust that built the idol and was maintaining it.
"Nothing would have happened, if we (civic agencies and the government) would have been doing our job," the bench said, adding that "this structure could not have been built overnight without connivance of the public authorities".
It said the land belongs to the city and not the individual sitting in the government office, so it has to be returned to the public.
Annoyed over the illegalities surrounding the Hanuman statue, the bench directed the Delhi Police to find out the details and the money deposited in the bank accounts of the trust running the temple.
It sought to know from the Municipal Corporation about the property tax paid by the trustee of the temple, which is allegedly on the right of way of vehicular traffic.
It asked the Delhi Development Authority to provide the details of officials responsible for the construction of the huge structure on the public land.
The bench directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to also provide the full particulars of the persons responsible for erection of the idol.
The court ordered an enquiry after a committee appointed by it in May this year to look into illegal constructions all over Delhi, had pointed to encroachments of up to 1170 square yards on DDA land which forms part of the Southern Ridge.
"This is clearly in the teeth of the orders of the Supreme Court regarding protection of the Ridge Area and is completely impermissible," the committee had said.
It had also said that apart from the Hanuman statue, there was unauthorised construction of multiple small and big buildings of up to four floors including a residential complex there.
The bench had then directed the authorities to take action against the unauthorised construction on public land and ensure that all encroachments on the Southern Ridge are removed immediately and the Ridge is secured in terms of the orders of the Supreme Court.
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