India: Religious structures on public land: SC seeks govts’ reply

Seeking "immediate actions" against unuathorised religious and other structures raised on public land across the country, the Supreme Court on Friday directed all states and Union Territories to inform it about the number of such structures removed and relocated by them till June 30.

A Bench led by Justice R M Lodha granted six weeks to the governments to file comprehensive affidavits, detailing the steps taken by them to raze down and relocate all unauthorised structures from roads and public places. "There has to be a two-pronged approach. One, you must ensure all unauthorised structures are removed and second, actions must be taken against the authority concerned in case any unauthorised structure come up in future. The action has to be immediate," said the Bench.

The court also asked them to issue appropriate notifications for putting in place a policy or rules for removal or relocation of illegal religious and other structures built on public land and place them before the Bench for scrutiny of their efficacy.

It has also asked states to give a copy of their affidavit to the Centre for preparation of a consolidated national data as to how many illegal structures have been demolished or relocated and how many of them still existed.

The court posted the matter to August 30 for further hearing. Earlier this year, the Bench had asked all the state governments to remove unauthorised constructions.

[see original at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/religious-structures-on-public-land-sc-seeks-govts-reply/1138314/]