Illegality is inherently incurable, the Bombay High Court observed while refusing relief to a Pune school challenging an order to demolish an unauthorised structure it had constructed.
A bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata, in the order dated May 9, observed that merely because the educational institution caters to around 2,000 students, the court cannot consider directing the authorities to regularise the illegal structure.
The bench said there is this common belief in Maharashtra that one can construct structures illegally and without permission and subsequently seek regularisation, but "illegality is incurable".
Aryan World School, a charitable educational institution, had moved the court against the Pune Metropolitan Development Authority's April 17 order to demolish unauthorised construction on the premises.
The petitioner claimed it runs a reputed school in Bhilarewadi for Classes 1 to 10 and has around 2,000 students.
The plea said the demolition order was passed without granting the school management a hearing.
The school's counsel, Neeta Karnik, argued that the structure was constructed based on a no-objection certificate (NOC) issued in October 2007 by a gram panchayat, the relevant authority at the time.
The PMRDA rejected the school's application for regularisation of the structure this year.
The bench said the gram panchayat has no authority to grant permission for construction, and permission ought to have been obtained from the district collector in the absence of any authority.
It noted that the structure constructed by the school was wholly illegal, and no permission was obtained from the competent authority before construction.
The bench said it was unable to accept the petitioner's contention that merely because they are an educational institution serving around 2,000 students, the court must consider and direct the PMRDA to regularise their illegal structure.
"Such misplaced sympathy not only undermines the sanctity of the law but also jeopardises the very foundation of town planning. Illegality is inherently incurable, and the law is equal and uniformly applicable to all, without exception," it said.
The court urged the Maharashtra government to take action against the concerned gram panchayat and the sarpanch for issuing such NOCs or permissions allowing such illegal constructions.
It also directed the state government to file a compliance affidavit by November 14, stating what action it has taken against the concerned persons in the gram panchayat who granted the petitioner NOC and the sarpanch who permitted the illegal construction.
"It has become a recurring trend for individuals who have engaged in blatantly illegal or unauthorised constructions to invoke pleas of illiteracy when such constructions serve their own interests or alternatively, to create third-party rights in an attempt to elicit sympathy or secure concessions for regularisation as a matter of right," the court said.
