Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 30 : The High Court today directed the authorities to ensure that any construction in Pahalgam must be strictly in accordance with the new Master Plan and closed the much publicized PIL for its protection and preservation.
The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice M A Chowdhary closed the PIL and directed the PDA to ensure that the construction in the Pahalgam area is done strictly in accordance with the new Master Plan.
Court also directed the authorities to take steps in order to remove the illegal encroachments in the area, if any, by following due process of law. The PIL was moved by the Pahalgam Peoples Welfare Organization and the court left it open for the petitioner-Organization to point out individual violations and seek appropriate remedial measures as may be permissible under law.
So far as the renewal of the expired and subsisting leases are concerned, Court has been informed that new Rules under the Land Grants Act have been promulgated and those Rules shall govern all those matters and structures which were also raised during the course of this PIL. “In view of the closure of the proceedings in the PIL, the contempt petition as well as other connected CM(s) shall also stand disposed of”, Court concluded.
In the petition Master Plan of 2005-25 issued by the Pahalgam Development Authority on the ground that the same was against the interest of inhabitants of the area and not in public interest. However, the PDA counsel submitted before the court that the Master Plan which is impugned in the instant PIL is no more in vogue and has been replaced by new Master Plan Pahalgam 2023.
“This petition on the face of it is rendered infructuous and perhaps because of this reason there is no representation on behalf of the petitioner. In view of the above, this PIL is closed with a direction to the respondents to ensure that the construction in the Pahalgam area is done strictly in accordance with the new Master Plan”, Court directed.
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