HC gives shop owners no relief, says there can be no compromise on illegal parking.
The Gujarat high court on Thursday came down heavily on the owners of shops on CG Road violating parking norms and said that there could be no compromise on the issue of illegal parking.
The court also pulled up the Ahmedabad municipal corporation (AMC) for doing nothing to curb civic problems like illegal constructions, encroachments and illegal parking despite the high court’s clear orders in this regard 10 years back.
A bench headed by chief justice SJ Mukhopadhyay was hearing petitions filed by shop-owners against sealing of illegal property on the CG Road. During the same hearing, the court also took up a PIL that had sought contempt of court proceedings against the AMC for ignoring the court’s orders for 10 years.
The chief justice made stern observations on illegal constructions in parking spaces on CG Road as well as on service roads along the SG Highway. He sought to know from the Shop Owners’ Association what corrective measures they intended to propose if they did not want the buildings to be demolished.
He added that violation of parking norms was completely unacceptable, and there could be no compromise on it. Justice Mukhopadhyay also suggested that Rs1,000 or Rs2,000 should be recovered as fine from the shop-owners for having illegal parking space in front of their premises. He also suggested that multi-storey parking place by built after buying a plot near the commercial complexes.
Realising the court's anger, the shop owners repeatedly sought an opportunity to make a representation to the government, or an alternative arrangement to enable them to fulfil the norms. But the shop owners got no relief and the court posted the case to November 23 for further hearing.
During the hearing on the petition that sought initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the AMC, the civic body submitted a status report on the action taken to address civic issue as per the high court's order.
Also, the senior lawyers appearing for the civic body and the state government tried to calm down the chief justice by promising to come up with an action plan or special policy on civic issues. But the chief justice was in no mood to give up. He asked why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against the AMC as it had failed to solve the city's civic problems for the last 10 years despite the court's orders.
The only relief that the bench gave was when it allowed banks, and government and lawyer's offices located on the sealed premises on CG Road, to open. The AMC had started sealing unauthorized constructions following an earlier order of the high court in response to a PIL petition.
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