LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Sunday permitted a group of residents in Bahraich to submit their replies within 15 days to notices issued by the Public Works Department (PWD) regarding alleged encroachments on government land.The bench, comprising Justice A.R. Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, passed this interim order in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights. Previously, on October 18, the PWD had issued a three-day notice, which expired on Sunday evening.The court stressed that individuals served with notices for the demolition of illegal structures along the Kundasar-Mahsi Nanpara-Maharajganj Road in Bahraich should file their responses within the specified period. It further directed state authorities to consider these replies and issue a ‘speaking and reasoned’ order.The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for October 23. A special bench was constituted on Sunday evening to deliver this interim order.Citing the Supreme Court’s directive from September 29 regarding demolition actions, the bench remarked that no demolitions should occur, except in specific cases, without the court’s consent. “We have no reason to doubt that the order issued by the apex court will be implemented by the State of Uttar Pradesh in both letter and spirit,” the bench stated.In its interim order, the bench noted, “While leaving all aspects of the matter open, what concerns this court is the issuance of notices requiring replies within a mere three days. The notice does not clarify how many houses on kilometer-38 of the Kundasar-Mahasi-Nanpara-Maharajganj District Road have been authorized for construction, which warrants further elucidation.””We expect the persons faced with the notices to participate with the proceedings in the meantime. We further provide that in case they file their reply to the notice within a period of 15 days from today, the competent authority shall consider and decide the same by passing a speaking and reasoned order which shall be communicated to the parties aggrieved,” the bench said.
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