Calcutta High Court
Aadil Fazle Karim And Ors vs The Kolkata Municipal Corporation And … on 12 March, 2025
Author: Kausik Chanda
Bench: Kausik Chanda
OD-1
ORDER SHEET
WPO/1111/2024
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction
ORIGINAL SIDE
AADIL FAZLE KARIM AND ORS.
Vs
THE KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION AND ORS.
BEFORE:
The Hon'ble JUSTICE KAUSIK CHANDA
Date : 12th March, 2025
Appearance:
Mr. Raghunath Chakraborty, Adv.
Ms. Amrita De, Adv.
Ms. Mohona Das, Adv.
…for the petitioners
Mr. Alak Kr. Ghosh, Adv.
Mr. Swapan Kr. Debnath, Adv.
…for the KMC
Mr. Arijit Bakshi, Adv.
…Special Officer
The Court: The petitioners challenge an order issued by the Kolkata
Municipal Corporation under Section 400(8) of the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation Act, 1980.
Initially, a report was submitted before this Court suggesting that the
petitioners had constructed an unauthorised area of 334.614 sq. m.
On January 15, 2025, this Court passed the following orders:
2
“The petitioners contend that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
intends to demolish an alleged unauthorised construction at premises
No. 1, Abdul Ali Row, Kolkata-700 016, by invoking Section 400(8) of the
Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, without first issuing a notice under
Section 554 of the said Act.
The petitioners do not dispute the presence of unauthorised
construction at the premises. They argue, however, that there was an
approved plan for the property, and the entire building is used solely for
residential purposes for the personal use of the petitioners. The
petitioners assert that the Corporation seeks to demolish a portion of the
building that falls within the scope of the sanctioned plan.
This Court appointed a Special Officer to inspect the premises in
question to determine the extent of the unauthorized construction. The
Special Officer has submitted a report, which contains the following
pertinent details:
“On inspection it was found that deviations have
been carried out in all five floors, encroaching
mandatory open space on all sides thereby infringing
many building rules.
In the ground floor, two additional columns have
been erected in the rear open space and R.C.C. slab
has been cast over those two columns in all the floors.
The R.C.C. slabs in all the floors have been projected
on the sides and front beyond the sanctioned limit
thereby encroaching upon the side and front open
spaces.
On the west cantilever projections have been made
in first to fourth floors. The sanctioned 1000 mm wide
cantilever has been projected further by 1340 mm
beyond the sanctioned limit in all floors in the most
dangerous manner.
The owners have erected the building, without
paying any heed to the prevailing Building Rules.
Gross deviations have been made from the Building
Permit, thereby violating the norms and code of
practice of civil engineering.
The floor wise sanctioned and constructed area
along with the total unauthorized floor area is put up
below in a tabular form.
Floor Sanctioned Constructed Additional
Floor area Floor Area area
Sq.M. Sq.M. constructed
beyond
Sanctioned
3
Plan
Sq.M.
Ground 154.384 173.785 19.401
Floor
First Floor 180.834 242.254 61.42
Second Floor 180.834 252.264 71.81
Third Floor 180.834 252.264 71.81
Fourth Floor 180.834 252.264 71.81
Total 877.720 1172.831 296.251
From the above table it is evident that approx.
296.251(3187.06 Sq.Ft.) of floor area has been created
in ground floor to fourth floor, beyond the sanctioned
limit. The additions in the floors have been made in
the most unethical manner, without maintaining any
civil engineering norms. The percentage increase in
floor area accounts for 33.75% beyond the sanctioned
limit.”
There appears to be a discrepancy regarding the extent of
unauthorised construction between the report submitted by the Special
Officer and the one filed by the Corporation before this Court. The
Corporation’s report estimates the unauthorized construction to be
380.04 square meters.
In light of this, the Director General (Building) of the Kolkata
Municipal Corporation is directed to appoint a competent officer to
assess the extent of the unauthorized portion of the building, providing
due notice to both the petitioners and the Special Officer.
In the presence of the Special Officer and the petitioners, the
officer appointed by the Corporation shall measure the unauthorized
construction on 22nd January 2025. A further report shall be filed by the
Special Officer and the Corporation on the next hearing.
The Special Officer shall be remunerated an additional sum of Rs.
10,000/- by the petitioners.
The interim order granted earlier is extended for an additional
period of two months or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The matter is to be listed for hearing on 29th January 2025.”
In compliance with the aforementioned order, the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation conducted another measurement of the relevant building, in the
4
presence of the Special Officer and the petitioners’ representative. The joint
measurement report dated March 10, 2025, is quoted below:
“Report
Pursuant to the Order of the Hon’ble High Court at
Calcutta passed an order dated 15.01.2025 and directed to
D.G (B) “to appoint a competent officer to access the extent of
the unauthorized construction…” and accordingly D.G(B)
appointed me as competent officer, posted as Executive
Engineer(Civil)/Bldg./Br-VI. A Joint Inspection was held on
01/03/2025 at the captioned premises with prior intimation
to both the Special Officer and the petitioners, to assess the
extent of the unauthorized portion of the building. The
measurements were taken in presence of the above
mentioned parties. The area of the unauthorized portions of
the individual floors is mentioned below in tabular form.
Floor Unauthorized Area (In Sq.m)
Ground Floor 18.4
First Floor 76.022
Second Floor 78.249
Third Floor 80.091
E Fourth Floor 81.852
x TOTAL 334.614
Executive
Engineer(C)/Bldg./Br-VI"
The learned Advocate for the petitioners contends that, in the
circumstances of this case, Section 400(8) of the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation Act, 1980, could not have been invoked. The petitioners were not
provided an opportunity for a hearing, and were not made aware of the extent
of the unauthorised construction.
5
However, in the proceedings before this Court, as noted above, the
petitioners were granted adequate opportunity to defend themselves and are
now fully aware of the unauthorised construction that requires demolition.
Any proceedings under Section 400(1) of the Kolkata Municipal
Corporation Act, 1980, could not have ensured better compliance with the
principles of natural justice.
Nevertheless, I grant the petitioners an opportunity to demolish the
unauthorised portions of their property in terms of the joint inspection report
dated March 10, 2025, within a period of two months from the date of this
order, considering the ongoing month of Ramzan.
It is made clear that, if the petitioners fail to demolish the unauthorised
construction within the stipulated two-month period, the Corporation shall
take immediate steps to demolish the same.
With the observations made above, WPO/1111/2024 is disposed of.
(KAUSIK CHANDA, J.)
sg.