In an attempt to ensure that new buildings do not violate the approved building plans, the Madras High court has ordered that the officials concerned must keep a check on every new building right from basement-laying stage and ascertain whether enough setback area had been provided around the buildings.
Justices S. Vaidyanathan and Mohammed Shaffiq ordered that immediately after the basement was completed, either the owner or the builder should make a request by registered post/speed post and also through e-mail for officials to inspect the construction site and ascertain compliance with the approved building plan.
The team must inspect the site within 15 days of receiving such a request and issue a certificate to proceed further if the construction is in order. The judges also made it clear that the the name of the inspecting officer and his/her Aadhaar number should be mentioned in the certificate in order to fix responsibility.
If the official concerned fails to carry out the inspection, disciplinary action must be initiated against him/her and adverse remarks must be entered in their service records, the Bench ordered. It also came down heavily on IAS officers who keep statutory appeals, preferred by building plan violators, pending for years together.
“Of late, it is reported that several IAS officers, dealing with applications under Section 80-A of the Town and Country Planning Act of 1971, are not complying with the orders of this court in spite of specific orders issued every now and then, fixing the outer time limit for disposal of appeals.
“Such officers, who are least bothered about the orders of this court, must be shown the doors as ignoring the orders of this court would definitely amount to being dishonest in their duty. In case of non-compliance of the orders of this court, it is time and again made clear that a fine will be secondary and imprisonment will be primary,” the judges wrote.
They also recalled that another Division Bench, in 2018, issued a slew of directions such as demolishing buildings that had been constructed in violation of approved plans. If the owners had kept those buildings under lock and key to avoid action, the officials were ordered to drill large holes on the ceiling and make them unusable.
“We do not know whether the above order has been complied with. If any contempt is filed against this order dated October 16, 2018 we will take serious view as one of us (Justice Vaidyanathan) was a party to this order,” the judges warned.
