The Karnataka High Court on Monday ordered issue of a show cause notice asking Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for not commencing survey of illegal buildings in the city even five months after a direction from the court.
Though the BBMP counsel on Monday told the court that the survey would commence on April 1, the court did not appreciate the statement as the BBMP had not commenced survey though the court had passed an order in November 2019.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi issued the direction during the hearing of a PIL petition, initiated suo motu by the High Court, on the issue of illegal constructions and inaction of the BBMP in initiating action against such structures.
The bench noted that the direction was issued to the BBMP Commissioner in November last year to submit a time schedule on December 18, 2019 for commencing the survey. The bench noted that though the BBMP has now stated that the survey would commence on April 1, no reason has been assigned as to why the order passed in November was not implemented.
“We expected the survey to start immediately. However, it was stated that the survey will start on April 1. There is no explanation for the delay. In more than one case, there was clear defiance of court orders. This court restrained from initiating proceedings under contempt of court proceedings once,” the bench observed while adjourning further hearing till March 31.
