Setback for Laskhadweep administration: Kerala HC stays order to demolish 102 buildings

Court

The directive of the Lakshadweep administration had ordered the demolition of about 102 buildings of traditional coastal communities on various islands of the union territory.

TNM Staff

NCF

A single bench of the Kerala High Court comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan on Tuesday stayed, until further orders, the directive of the Lakshadweep administration which ordered the demolition of about 102 buildings of traditional coastal communities on various islands of the union territory. The court stayed the order while hearing the petition filed by two Kavaratti Island natives, who received a show cause notice claiming that houses were constructed without diversion certificate as required by the Laccadive Minicoy and Amini Islands Land Revenue and Tenancy Regulation. The notice also mentioned that their houses are situated within a distance of 20 metres from the coast, which is declared as no development zone. Advocate R Rohith, who appeared for petitioners, argued that the houses were constructed before the enactment of the said law. He also argued that no permission is required in the Islands to construct a building. The court asked the island administration to give their affidavit on the issue within two weeks. The administration said that the owners should reply within five days of the show cause notice. They also asked the owners to bring their documents of the buildings in question. The petitioners were also told that the cost of demolishing such buildings will be recovered from them at a later stage. In the court, the petitioners pointed out that a similar show cause notice was served to some fishermen of the Kavaratti Islands recently, and though they replied, the fishermen’s sheds were demolished by the administration even as the hearing on the matter was going on. This is why petitioners approached the High Court in the present case, advocate Rohith said. According to a LiveLaw report, the petitioners argued that the Integrated Island Management Plan does not empower any authority to demolish the scheduled tribe's houses already constructed on the Islands decades ago. The petitioners from Kavaratti island, when they had approached the high court first, were told that it was only a draft suggestion. When they received the demolition orders, they approached the court again, which gave its stay order on Tuesday. (With IANS inputs)

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