The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Haryana government to demolish illegal construction made in Kant Enclave, Faridabad, in the Aravalli Hills after August 18, 1992, in violation of environmental norms and its own orders and directed it to compensate those adversely affected in the process.
A Bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta said Kant Enclave was a forest area which needed to be treated as forest land where no construction activity could have been permitted with effect from August 18, 1992, when a notification under Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900 banned construction in the area.
The diversion of forest land for non-forest use violated Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and top court’s decisions, the Bench said.
It ordered R Kant & Co and Haryana Town & Country Planning Department to pay Rs 50 lakh to each persons whose construction were ordered to be demolished.
The Bench directed the builder to give full refund along with 18% annual interest to hundreds of persons who invested in land from date of investment.
Applying “The polluter pays principle”, the top court ordered R Kant & Co to deposit Rs 5 crore in the Aravalli Rehabilitation Fund within a month for restoration of the forest land.
Those not satisfied with compensation amount were at liberty to claim damages from R Kant & Co and Haryana Town & Country Planning Department by filing a civil suit, the Bench said.
It directed the Chief Secretary of Haryana to ensure compliance of its orders “in letter and spirit” by December 31, 2018. But the court will take up the matter in the middle of November to ensure compliance.
The Bench came down heavily on the Haryana government, saying, “The rule of law seems to have broken down in Haryana and become the rule of men only to favour the applicants (builder).”
What did top court say
— SC holds constructions went against an Aug 18, 1992, notification under Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, that banned construction in the area
— Says the constructions also violated Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and top court’s decisions
— Orders R Kant & Co and Haryana Town & Country Planning Department to pay Rs 50 lakh to each person whose construction has been ordered to be demolished
— Directs builder to give full refund along with 18% annual interest to hundreds of persons who invested in land from date of investment
— Applying “The polluter pays principle”, top court orders R Kant & Co to deposit Rs 5 crore in the Aravalli Rehabilitation Fund within a month
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It said: “The construction activity carried out by the applicant R. Kant & Co. is clearly in violation of the notification dated August 18, 1992, and in blatant defiance of orders passed by this court from time to time. Unfortunately, the Town & Country Planning Department of the State of Haryana has been supporting the illegalities of the applicant despite strong resistance from the Forest Department of the state of Haryana.
“There is no doubt that at the end of the day, the State of Haryana comes out in very poor light and must be held accountable for its conflicting and self destructive stand taken in spite of affidavits filed by the Chief Secretary of the State of Haryana from time to time supporting the Forest Department.”
It said there had been a complete lack of any concern for the environmental and ecological degradation carried out in the Aravalli hills by influential colonisers and what appears to be a very strong mining lobby in Haryana, the damage caused to the Aravalli hills is irreversible.
“It is not only the future generations that have to pay a heavy price for this environmental degradation, but even the present generation is paying a heavy price for the environmental and ecological degradation inasmuch as there is an acute water shortage in the area as prophesied by the Central Ground Water Board. In addition, what was once a popular tourist destination, namely, Badkal Lake has now vanished and the entire water body has become bone dry. What are the more severe consequences that will be felt in the years to come, only time and nature will tell,” said the Bench.
Out of a total of about 1,600 plots said to have been carved out by R. Kant & Co. in Kant Enclave, conveyance deeds had been executed only in respect of 284 residential plots and three commercial plots. On the residential plots, only 33 houses had been constructed and it appeared that not one of them was a single-storey hutment. But the top court noted that it was not clear if the constructions were pre- or post-August 18, 1992.
