Mumbai: The Bombay High Court expressed its shock over the issue of how fugitive jeweler Nirav Modi and several other individuals had been given permission to go on with illegal constructions along the beach located in Alibaug town of Raigad district in Maharashtra.
The Court held that ignoring such violations was, in fact, a case of “complete non-application of mind” by the authorities concerned. After that, the high court gave the directive to the Divisional Commissioner (DC) of Konkan region to begin an inquiry into how more than 160 illegal private structures were given permissions to be constructed along the coastline in the Alibaug area.
A bench comprising of Justices AS Oka and RI Chagla gave the directive to the DC to submit within the period of eight weeks his complete inquiry report into the principal secretary, state revenue and forest departments.
The bench also directed the government of Maharashtra to file an affidavit with details of the findings of the inquiry and the consequent remedial steps initiated by the state.
The issued directives were actually a part of the complete judgment passed by the Bombay High Court bench on Monday over a petition filed by activist Surendra Dhavale.
The plea also wanted that the court bench directs the concerned authorities to demolish all the constructions done without any authorization in some of the villages in Alibaug. The area of Alibaug is a popular weekend gateway from Mumbai.
The petition said that such constructions were taken up without any authorization and were completely in violation of the rules and the land laws of the state called as Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
According to the plea, there are a about 175 such kind of private residences in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas in villages such as Varsoli, Kalgaon, Savage and Dokvade, among others, which are all located in the Alibaug taluka, owned by several “wealthy persons, including Nirav Modi and several businessmen and film actors”.
The bench had been informed over the matter during the previous hearing that despite an order being passed in this regard in June this year, the concerned authorities had dropped all kind of proceedings against Nirav Modi bungalow and closed the file.
The plea noted that in the year 2009, Nirav Modi had got permission from the local authorities to go on with some repair work in the three farmhouses he owns.
But despite all these, he went on with his plans to construct an area of more than 695 sq meters by violating the land rules of the state and other coastal zone norms.
The plea further said that the fugitive diamond jeweler was not only the isolated one, but it was very important to highlight the lapses on part of the DC’s office in failing to act against such kind of illegal construction.
“The issue is not merely of CRZ violations, but also of illegal construction made along beaches. There is complete non-application of mind by the authorities. The case of Nirav Modi to say the least is shocking,” the bench said.
“The manner in which the DC bypassed previous orders of this court (on CRZ violations and demolition of illegal construction along beaches) calls for a serious inquiry. It appears that no adjudication was made on the question of Nirav Modi having carried out the illegal construction,” the judges said.
“If there is rampant illegal construction in coastal areas, the same will not only result in violation of environmental laws, but, it will also amount to the destruction of our ecosystem,” they said.
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