A Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) officer, who issued a notice to a Shiv temple for alleged encroachment, was suspended on Friday.
The notice had led to protests by local residents and groups, including the Bajrang Dal, who argued that it should have been addressed to a person or authority, instead of the Shiv temple itself.
The notice had claimed that the temple in Vaishali Nagar was intruding on public land. On Friday, the JDA suspended Enforcement Officer Arun Kumar Poonia “with immediate effect”.
As per the JDA notice, the temple had allegedly encroached on government land by building a boundary wall without permission from the JDA. The notice cited a High Court order and section 72 of the Jaipur Development Authority Act, 1982, which deals with “encroachment or obstruction upon public land”. It said that violation of this section carries one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, while giving a week’s time for the removal of the encroachment.
In 2022, Jaipur resident Harsh Kumar filed a Public Interest Litigation against JDA, saying that it is failing to perform its statutory duty and public obligation to remove encroachments.
A High Court Bench of then acting Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sameer Jain had then ordered that the “JDA shall do well to hold inquiry and take appropriate action, if it finds that constructions, which have been raised, are unauthorised, illegal and in violation of law” and given the JDA three months to act on it.
In the absence of action by the JDA, the petitioner further moved a contempt petition last year. On September 11, the High Court directed the JDA to submit a status report on how many encroachments were found by it on the four roads in Vaishali Nagar, which falls under JDA zone 7, and what its action plan is for the removal of such encroachments.
Story continues below this ad
As per the JDA notice, the temple has encroached 1.59 metres and 1.06 metres into the road.
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: