Wakf Board as well as Bihar state authorities are ready to demolish the offending portion of the building
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court this week stayed Patna High Court judgment that ordered the demolition of the entire structure of the proposed Wakf Bhawan building being constructed close to the High Court.
According to Live Law, a bench comprising Justice UU Lalit, Justice Ajay Rastogi, and Justice Vikram Nath on Monday issued a stay on the operation of the HC order pending further considerations.
“The parties shall maintain the status quo with regard to the construction and the status of the site in question. No construction/alteration of any kind shall be effected. Any infraction shall entail serious consequences”, the apex court said.
An appeal filed by the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board through Advocate Ejaz Maqbool has argued that the direction for demolition of the entire building was given even though the Wakf Board, as well as the State Authorities, had themselves agreed to demolish the offending portion of the building (i.e. to bring the building within the height of 10 meters).
The appeal states that the High Court went beyond the four issues framed by it and also the order issued on grounds that the building was above 10 meters violated Bye-Law No. 21 of the Bihar Building Bye-Laws, 2014.
The appeal further argued that even the court complex has been constructed without taking any other separate sanctions from the Patna Municipal Corporation.
The Patna High Court had ordered the demolition of the Wakf building constructed close to the northern side of the newly inaugurated Centenary Building of the High Court.
The apex court considered the appeal as Public Interest litigation and assigned a five-judge special bench consisting of Justices Ashwani Kumar Singh, Vikash Jain, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Rajendra Kumar Mishra and Chak to hear the matter.
The proximity of the building to the High Court is seen as a security risk for judges, lawyers, staff and court infrastructure.
The high court had said that the construction of the building was a brazen violation of the rules.
