New Delhi: The Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board has moved the Supreme Court challenging a judgment of the Patna High Court directing demolition of Waqf building adjacent to HC 'Centenary Building'.
The board in its plea has submitted that while rendering the impugned judgment the High Court not only traveled beyond the issues framed by it but also proceeded to direct demolition of the entire structure of the proposed Waqf Bhawan Building, solely due to the reason that the building was in excess of 10 meters of height which was in violation of Bye-Law No. 21 of the Bihar Building Bye-Laws, 2014.
The plea stated that the direction for demolition of the entire building was given even though the Petitioner Waqf Board as well as all 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 plea, filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool, stated that the entire project was undertaken in consonance with Section 32 of the Waqf Act, 1995 and with the due sanction of the Map/Plan by a Government Architect.
The plea contended that the High Court erred in proceeding on the basis that the building was being constructed without any valid sanction.
It is submitted that as per Bye-Law No. 8(1) (A) of the Bihar Building Bye-Laws, no separate permission is necessary for the works carried out by the State Government Department/Bihar State Housing Board if the plans are signed by Government Architect, the plea said.
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The petition submitted that the construction plans were approved by the Minority Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, and the Map and Plan of construction was approved by the Senior Architect of the Bihar State Building Construction Corporation, which is a Government Company.
Therefore, the construction having been carried out by the State Department and the plan having been approved by the Senior Architect of Bihar State Building Construction Corporation, no separate sanction was required from the Patna Municipal Corporation, it said.
On March 1, 2021, upon noting the structure being constructed in the close proximity of the Centenary Building of the High Court, it took suo motu cognizance of the matter and formulated four questions for consideration.
The high court on August 3 ordered the demolition of the Waqf building adjacent to HC 'Centenary Building' within a month.
The high court, in its 4:1 judgment, held the construction as illegal as per Bihar Building Bye-laws, 2014.
The high court had also directed the Bihar government to form an inquiry commission to fix responsibility on those government officials who permitted the illegal construction of the building.
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PTI
