HC supports demolitions

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court has taken a grave note of the riots and the attack on the Vadodara Court after the demolition of a dargah in Fatehpura area on Monday.

Taking a suo motu cognisance, a divisional bench comprising of Justice BJ Shethna and Justice RP Dholakia on Tuesday ordered immediate clearance of all religious encroachments from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot.

The bench, in its order said, "Encroachments made on a public road by any one can not be permitted or tolerated even for a minute as it causes a lot of traffic problems as well as other problems for the public at large."

 The court observed that "only a few handful anti-social elements with the money and muscles power put up religious structures overnight on public space and then start minting money by putting public to a great inconvenience.

It is unfortunate that the officers of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority contribute to it by remaining as silent spectators." 

The court then asked the concerned urban development authorities to take immediate steps for removal of encroachments of religious structures on public spaces without any discrimination and submit their reports by May 5.  The bench ordered the concerned authorities to file their reports after clearing these encroachments.

The bench also directed the state government to provide proper security to the concerned courts in future.