New Delhi: Ina significant judgment, the Supreme Court recently said that unauthorised constructions cannot be legitimised merely due to administrative delays, passage of time, or monetary investments and issued a slew of directions to curb illegal constructions. The Apex Court directed the banks/financial institutions to sanction loan against any building as a security ‘only after verifying the completion/occupation certificate’.
“Banks and financial institutions can’t sanction loans against any building as a security without verifying the completion/occupation certificate issued to the building and electricity, water and sewerage connections shall be given by service providers to buildings only after production of such a certificate”, the Supreme Court has ordered.
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Wednesday01 Jan. 2025
Issuing pan-India guidelines “in the larger public interest” to check illegal constructions, a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Madhvan said, “No permission/licence to conduct any business/trade must be given by any authorities including local bodies of states/Union Territories in any unauthorised building irrespective of it being residential or commercial building.”
It said the builder/applicant has to give an undertaking to the effect that possession of the building will be handed over to the owners/beneficiaries only after obtaining completion/occupation certificate from the authorities concerned.
“Unauthorised constructions, apart from posing a threat to the life of the occupants and the citizens living nearby, also have an effect on resources like electricity, ground water and access to roads, which are primarily designed to be made available in orderly development and authorised activities,” it said, upholding an Allahabad High Court’s December 2014 order for demolition of certain illegal constructions in Meerut.
Noting that unauthorised constructions have to be curtailed with an iron hand and any lenience would amount to showing misplaced sympathy to them, the Bench said violation of any of these directions would lead to initiation of contempt proceedings in addition to the prosecution under respective laws.
“We are of the opinion that construction(s) put up in violation of or deviation from the building plan approved by the local authority and the constructions which are audaciously put up without any building planning approval, cannot be encouraged. Each and every construction must be made scrupulously following and strictly adhering to the Rules,” the Bench said.
Officers responsible for issuance of wrongful completion/occupation certificate shall be proceeded departmentally forthwith, it said.
Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Madhavan made it clear that “delay in directing rectification of illegalities, administrative failure, regulatory inefficiency, cost of construction and investment, negligence and laxity on the part of the authorities concerned in performing their obligation(s) under the Act, cannot be used as a shield to defend action taken against the illegal/unauthorised constructions”.
The verdict came more than a month after the top court declared ‘Bulldozer Justice’ unconstitutional and said the executive cannot demolish the residential and commercial properties of persons only on the grounds that they were accused or convicted of a crime.
Noting that state governments often seek to enrich themselves through the process of regularisation by condoning/ratifying the violations and illegalities, it lamented that “the state is unmindful that this gain is insignificant compared to the long-term damage it causes to the orderly urban development and irreversible adverse impact on the environment”.
“Hence, regularisation schemes must be brought out only in exceptional circumstances and as a one-time measure for residential houses after a detailed survey and considering the nature of land, fertility, usage, impact on the environment, availability and distribution of resources, proximity to water bodies/rivers and larger public interest,” it said in its December 17 verdict.
The top court ordered its Registrar (Judicial) to send copies of the verdict to chief secretaries of all states/union territories for issuance of circulars to all local authorities/corporations for strict compliance.
It also ordered that copies of the judgment also be circulated to the Registrar General of each high court to enable high courts to use it while considering disputes relating to unauthorised construction, deviation/violation of building permission/plan.
“Even after issuance of completion certificate, deviation/violation, if any, contrary to the planning permission brought to the notice of the authority immediate steps be taken by the said authority concerned, in accordance with law, against the builder/owner/occupant; and the official, who is responsible for issuance of wrongful completion/occupation certificate shall be proceeded departmentally forthwith,” the top court ordered.
