Notifications for Destruction Inside the Precincts of Vishalgad Fort Stayed by the Bombay High Court, Alleging Religious Discrimination
The Bombay High Court has inquired if there is a policy to deal with historic settlements within a protected monument and has ordered the demolition notices issued to more than 100 tenements near Kolhapur’s renowned Vishalgad Fort to be put on hold until March 10. Judge Gautam Patel, who presided over a division bench, questioned the petitioner’s attorney, Pradnya Talekar, after she stated that some of the tenements had been regularised.
FACTS OF THE CASE :
The petitioners claim they received an assurance of rehabilitation at a meeting conducted prior to the demolition notices being issued. The plea further claims that without any rehabilitation, they will be made homeless.
On December 13, 2022, the Department of Archaeology abruptly sent notices to property owners under Section 21 (2) of the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites Remains Act, 1960, requesting that they tear down their buildings within 30 days, failing which the government would launch a demolition campaign. In their appeal, the petitioners stated that a number of fundamentalist parties and religious organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, were responsible for the intended demolition because Muslims were allegedly encroaching on the fort site.
In their appeal, the petitioners stated that a number of fundamentalist parties and religious organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, were responsible for the intended demolition because Muslims were allegedly encroaching on the fort site.
The petitioners claim they received an assurance of rehabilitation at a meeting conducted prior to the demolition notices being issued. The plea further claims that without any rehabilitation, they will be made homeless.
JUDGEMENT :
The court instructed the State, “You’ll then have to justify in your affidavit why some of them are regularised.” Attorney Akshay Shinde announced that he would submit a response to the appeal on behalf of the Maharashtra government. March 10 has been set aside for the issue. The petitioners claim to have owned the property for between 30 and 60 years. One of them received a land allocation in 1983, and the court was informed of several regularisation applications.
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JUDGEMENT REVIEW BY SREYA MARY.