Patna High Court (FB) Halts Construction Of Bihar Sunni Waqf Board's Proposed Office Located Adjacent To New HC Building

It may be noted that the Patna High Court had, earlier this month, taken judicial notice of a 'huge structure' situated on the north side, adjacent to the newly inaugurated Centenary Building of the Patna High Court.

In view of the Bye-Law no. 8(1)(A) of the Bihar Building Byelaws, 2014, the Full Bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh, Justice Vikash Jain, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Justice Rajendra Kumar Mishra, and Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh observed,

"Taking note of Bye-Law no. 21 of the Byelaws, we are of the view that such structure should not be permitted in close proximity of the High Court Building"

The background of the matter

In order to ascertain the legitimacy of the building/huge structure, the Court had earlier called upon the Registrar General and the Court Officer and had inquired from them, as to whether any information had been given to the High Court prior to the erection of the building.

In response to this, the Registrar General had informed the Court that the District Magistrate and the Municipal Commissioner were called by him a few days ago and he had inquired about the legitimacy of the structure, however, they could not offer any satisfactory reply at the time.

In views of this submission, the Court had opined

"The existence of the structure in such close proximity of the High Court building, apart from causing an incessant disturbance in court proceedings, prima facie, poses serious security concerns for the Judges, lawyers, litigants, staff and security personnel alike."

State's submission

On Monday (15^th March), the Advocate General for the State of Bihar submitted before the Court that subject structure, was being constructed by the Minority Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, on a property belonging to the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board, for use as Musafirkhana, office of the Bihar Sunni Waqf Board and for some other uses.

On a query made by the Court, it was contended that no permission for the construction had been obtained from the Patna Municipal Corporation as no such permission is required in view of ByeLaw no. 8(1)(A) of the Bihar Building Byelaws, 2014.

He submitted that the building is being constructed on the basis of a plan prepared and approved by the Government Architect.

He stated that the structure in question is about 40-45 feet high and stands approximately 30 feet away from the boundary wall of the High Court Building.

Court's observations

Having perused Bye-Law no. 21 of the Byelaws, the Court opined that the construction of the multi-storied structure was in clear breach of relevant Bye-law

Accordingly, the Court directed that till further orders, no construction or related activity whatsoever shall be undertaken or continued by any person or authority in relation to the subject structure or any other structure exceeding 10 meters in height within a radius of 200 meters from the boundary wall of the High Court without prior leave of this Court.

Lastly, the matter was directed to be listed on 12^th April, by the day prior to which the respective respondents have been asked to file their respective comprehensive affidavits on the issues involved in the case.

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