Overview
- Justices G. S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe issued the demolition directive after hearing a petition over encroachments on a police-reserved plot in Malegaon.
- MMC acknowledged in an affidavit that the structures were illegal but called the matter a private dispute and cited manpower and police constraints.
- The court criticized municipal apathy toward rampant unauthorized construction and said MMC’s contradictory stance does not absolve its legal duty.
- The order keeps intervenors’ contentions on land rights open without affecting the requirement to remove the unlawful constructions.
- The case traces to a family’s 1986 purchase and 2021 complaints about encroachments on land later reserved for a police station and staff quarters.