Take action against encroachments on Jewish cemetery land, Bombay HC tells Panvel civic body
The Bombay High Court on Monday directed Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) to remove unauthorised or illegal constructions on land belonging to a 200-year-old Jewish cemetery.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V Marne was hearing a plea by Jewish Heritage Trust, filed through its chief trustee Raymond A Gadkar alleging that certain encroachments in the form of unauthorised hutments and hoardings are made on its land reserved for Jewish community's burial rituals and repeated complaints to PMC have availed no action.
The Trust, through senior advocate A S Khandeparkar, claimed that despite ongoing proceedings before legal forums, the PMC has repeatedly failed to take any action against the alleged encroachers despite it having identified them.
The plea also raised grievances over the discharge of waste generated through the encroachments into the holy Israeli tank/lake.
The petitioner Trust, which was formed to manage and protect Jewish heritage sites, said the tank is used to wash/clean the bodies prior to their burial as per Jewish rituals.
'Undoubtedly, under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act,1966 and Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1949, the Panvel Municipal Corporation is under a statutory obligation to remove encroachment and to keep the water bodies clean,' the HC noted.
The court noted that whether the alleged construction was raised on a plot belonging to Subhan Shah Dargah or on the designated cremation ground of the petitioner Trust was 'a question of fact,' which it could not determine under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Therefore, the court directed the ward officer of PMC to all persons or parties who may be in occupation of the concerned land and then take action against structures/encroachments as per law and the said exercise be completed within three months.
The HC clarified that it did not express any opinion on the merits of the matter and any person or party aggrieved due to demolition or removal action was at liberty to take recourse to the remedy prescribed under the law.
The court then disposed of the plea.
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