01.2022 Court No. 19 CP WPA 17787 of 2021 Nanda Bandyopadhyay (Santra) v. Howrah Municipal Corporation Mr. Nilanjan Bhattacharya Mr. Arpan Guha ……for & Ors.

Mr. Bhattacharya, learned advocate appearing the petitioner, submits the Howrah 2 Municipal Corporation may be directed to reach the proceedings already initiated, logical conclusion. Mr. Mukherjee, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the respondent no. 5, submits that the construction has been made according to the sanction plan. Copy of the plan has been handed over to the court. He denies that the respondent no. 5 had ever accepted or admitted deviations in the construction work. As the Howrah Municipal Corporation has produced the records before this court, from which it appears that proceedings under Section 117 of the Howrah Municipal Corporation Act has already been initiated and preliminary hearing was held, this court is of the opinion that the Corporation authorities must be directed to conclude the proceedings in accordance with law. Under such circumstances, the writ petition is disposed of with the following directions: a) An inspection of the site shall be made. Such inspection shall be held in the presence of the parties, with 48 hours advance notice to the petitioner and the respondent No. 5. 3 b) The report of the inspection shall be prepared along with the sketch map indicating the extent of deviation, if any. c) Such report shall be handed over to the petitioner as also the respondent no. 5. d) A hearing shall be given to the petitioner and the respondent No. 5. The parties must also be allowed to furnish their written objection/version to the said report and make oral and documentary submissions as also adduce evidence in support of their contentions before the competent authority. e) A reasoned order shall be passed and communicated to the parties. On the basis of what transpires at the hearing and during inspection, the proceedings shall be reached to its logical conclusion in terms of the statute. The court has not gone into the merit of the claims and counter-claims of the parties and the issues shall be decided independently. In view of the rising pandemic situation, the entire exercise shall be completed within a period of eight months from the date of communication of this order. The writ petition is, thus, disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. 4 Parties are to act on the server copy of this order. (Shampa Sarkar, J.)