Overview
- The Supreme Court has expanded a single-file matter into a pan-India monitoring exercise requiring all States and Union Territories to identify and act against illegal constructions and unauthorised use of residential premises.
- The bench cited the June 22 Lucknow coaching-centre fire that killed 15 as a key example of enforcement failure and ordered the Lucknow Development Authority vice-chairman to appear and show cause in contempt proceedings.
- On Aug. 5–6 the court stayed a Madhya Pradesh government order creating a policy committee as contemptuous and warned that any attempt by governments to delay or override its directions could invite contempt notices.
- Civic bodies have been given three weeks to file compliance affidavits, Jaipur and other development authorities were directed to list specific remedial steps within three weeks, and the court sought the Lucknow SIT report in a sealed cover for its next hearing.
- The court pointed to systemic failures such as recalled demolition orders, thousands of unresolved show-cause notices in Patna, diversion of land set aside under Master Plans, and irregular commercial electricity connections as causes of recurring public-safety risks.