CP told to act against encroachers

Tribune india: Shivani Bhakoo: Ludhiana: Friday 29, 2017.

MC Commissioner writes to top cop seeking his help in acting tough against defaulters

While the tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation, in its RTI reply, has refused to adhere to the HC directions in the contempt of court petition 1299 of 2009, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Jaskiran Singh has written a letter to the Commissioner of Police to act against encroachers as per law.

The tehbazari wing said the orders were meant for permanent encroachments and not for temporary ones. Jaskiran Singh, however, said he had written a letter to the CP to take action against those, who have encroached upon government land (temporary) and were causing a lot of traffic congestion as per law. As per the High Court directions, even the Police Department will need to take action against encroachers within stipulated time. If it fails to do so, it will again be contempt of court.

At the same time, it is believed that eyeing MC elections, which are expected to be announced soon, the ruling party will make every possible effort to “save” their vote bank by delaying action against encroachers.

“How can they afford to make voters angry at this stage? Encroachments are there, but action should be taken after the MC elections,” said a Congress councillor.

The Commissioner, in his letter, (a copy with The Tribune) has written in detail about the areas, including Basti Chowk, Sherpur Road, Tibba Road, Shingar Cinema Road and Janakpuri (Zone B) among others, and requested the CP to take necessary action, saying coordination (police) was needed to curb encroachments and follow the High Court directions. The Commissioner wrote about court’s directions (COCP 1299 of 2009) that need to be followed. Prior to the letter, MC Commissioner on December 13, 2017, had written a letter to the CP to take action against encroachers in Zone A.

Interestingly, the Superintendent Headquarters (Tehbazari) had filed a reply to an RTI recently that the court’s directions were not meant for the tehbazari department (temporary encroachments) but for permanent encroachments, while the Commissioner, adhering to same directions, has requested the police to take action as per law.

Tehbazari dept’s reply

In reply to an RTI query, the Superintendent Tehbazari (Headquarters) on December 19, 2017, said the orders of the court (COCP 1299 of 2009) were not meant for temporary encroachments but permanent ones. So, in the last 11 months (till November 2017), no police complaint was made by the tehbazari wing in any of the four zones.

What HC order says

In the COCP No. 1299 of 2009 (O&M) decided on January 17, 2012, the court directed: “To curb the tendency of encroachments over the public streets or illegal constructions, it is directed that if a person reconstructs /encroaches upon the vacated part of the public road or private property, the Municipal Corporation shall report the matter to the local police within 24 hours of the receipt of information and the police authorities shall take immediate action in the matter in accordance with law. The residents of the locality shall be at liberty to inform about such encroachment(s) to the municipal authorities telephonically or otherwise. There shall also be a penalty of Rs 500 per day [subject to direction No. (c) below] on the encroacher without prejudice to criminal prosecution. Such an action shall be without prejudice to the contempt proceedings which any public-spirited person may initiate. The police authorities shall be required to submit a challan/report within one month leaving it open to the public-spirited persons to seek directions for expeditious trial on day-to-day basis.”