Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on Monday granted an interim stay on demolition of a multi-storey building located opposite Vidhan Bhavan in Civil Lines, after the building management submitted a revised architectural plan before the court. The bench directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to file its reply on the new proposal within a week. Acting on its January 13 notice, NMC began demolition on Friday, identifying unauthorised construction across the basement, multiple upper floors, and an additional service floor below the first level. The action was halted after the court granted interim relief. Advocate Gemini Kasat appeared for the corporation.
The matter arises from a PIL filed by Vijay Babhare, alleging irregularities in construction of the multi-storey structure and potential security risk to both the Vidhan Bhavan and the Reserve Bank of India buildings nearby. The petition was filed in 2016 seeking demolition of the building.Hearing the matter, a division bench comprising Justices Anil Pansare and Nivedita Mehta examined the civic body’s earlier affidavit, which detailed the sequence of action under Section 53 of the MRTP Act. A notice declared the seventh floor completely unauthorised in 2004. The court earlier questioned why no decisive action was taken for nearly nine years after the matter attained finality in 2015.
