Court wanted to know why the civic body failed to comply with court’s order on several civic matters like removal of encroachment and paucity of parking space.
The Gujarat high court on Tuesday directed the state government, the Ahmedabad municipal corporation (AMC) and other government authorities to explain why they had failed to comply with the court’s orders on civic matters.
The court’s orders pertain to issues such as removal of encroachments, paucity of parking space, menace of stray cattle and fire safety.
The high court also asked to state government, urban development department, municipal commissioner and the police commissioner to convene an urgent meeting to decide what they intended to do to comply with earlier orders of the court. The court has set the next hearing of the case on November 17.
The high court warned that "the government shall supersede the AMC if it is not prepared to implement the law in true perspective."
The chief justice of the Gujarat high court came down heavily on the AMC and the state government when the civic body’s lawyer sought more time to comply with the court’s orders. The AMC counsel also sought another extension for the KM Mehta committee that was constituted earlier this year to address civic issues. The chief justice not only rejected the civic body’s plea but also criticised the conduct of the civic body.
"Either comply with the high court’s order or change the law if you cannot implement it," the chief justice said. "It is regrettable that you are seeking time to comply with high court’s orders that are 10 years old."
When the AMC’s lawyer was unable to reply satisfactorily to the high court’s questions, the chief justice ordered that the advocate-general appear in court to reply to the questions on behalf of the state government.
The advocate-general Kamal Trivedi arrived but was unable to answer the questions satisfactorily. He, however, sought for time so that he could answer the questions properly. The court then posted the case for hearing on November 17.
Since 2000, the court has issued several orders in response to PILs filed over civic matters such as fire safety, the traffic problem, illegal constructions, stray cattle menace and paucity of parking space, among others.
In 2008, one Shivlal Purohit had filed a petition through his advocate, Amit Panchal, demanding that the authorities be asked to comply with all those high court orders.
Earlier this year, the high court had set up the justice (retired) KM Mehta committee to look into civic issues and make suggestions. But after the committee’s term was over, the AMC returned to the court with the request for more time to solve the city’s civic problems.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Pankaj Champaneri, counsel for the owners of the sealed party plots in the city, alleged that the AMC had not taken action against the big malls, commercial establishments and restaurants. "It had, however, deliberately chosen to act against party plots, which are small in number, to show that they are implementing the high court’s directives," Champaneri said.
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