Planning authorities and mafia link: Supreme Court keeps in abeyance Gujarat govt notification relaxing building use permissions

The Supreme Court has kept in abeyance a notification issued by the Gujarat government on July 8 by which buildings which do not have valid building use permission or are in breach of the same were exempted from the obligation to comply with building control regulations for a period of three months (In Re Proper Treatment of COVID patients and dignified handling of dead bodies)..The Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah observed that condoning gross irregularities in constructing buildings which do not have building use or fire permissions, has resulted in violation of the law to the detriment to public health as was evident from the incidents of fire which took place both in Rajkot and Bharuch."The State of Gujarat shall take pro-active steps to ensure that the rule of law is observed. Consequently, pending further orders, the enforcement of the notification dated 8 July 2021 shall be held in abeyance by the State of Gujarat," the Court ordered.The Court said that the notification was ultra vires Section 122 of the Gujarat Town Planning and Urban Development Act 1976."At this stage, it does appear that taking cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, a notification is passed that is completely ultra vires of Section 122," the Bench remarked.It further held that the notification has no nexus to services being made available during the pandemic..The Court was hearing a suo motu case concerning fire tragedies in COVID-19 hospitals across the country in the wake of two such incidents in Rajkot and Ahmedabad..The government's July 8 notification permitted buildings which do not have valid building use permission or which were in breach of building use permission and those which violated development control regulations, such as change of use, margins and height restrictions to be exempt from the obligation to comply with the building control regulations for a period of three months from the last date of the applicability of the Gujarat Epidemic Diseases Covid-19 Regulations 2020.Though the notification stated that in the meantime corrective measures shall be adopted to comply with the Regulations within a period of three months, directions were issued to all the local bodies in the State to take no coercive measures."Instead of saving people from the pandemic, we are killing people by fire! Even with BU permission, if a two-room place is converted to a hospital, you must take permission," the Court remarked. .Noting that the notification had effectively suspended the Gujarat Town Planning Act and the Gujarat Comprehensive Development Control Regulations (GDCR), the Court said,"We cannot do everything, but what is in our reach, we must. There is a mafia link between planning authorities, and those who suffer are our citizens. It we allow this, it would mean we are acting in connivance."The Court, therefore, stated in its order that granting exemptions from complying with development control regulations which are made in the public interest to promote the health, safety and welfare of citizens would defeat the letter and purpose of the legislation.It, therefore, proceeded to keep the notification in abeyance. .[Fire Safety in COVID hospitals] "What is this report in sealed cover? This is not nuclear secret:" Supreme Court pulls up Gujarat govt.During a previous hearing, the Court had pulled up the Gujarat government for failing to follow its directions with regard to fire safety norms in hospitals.The Court also took exception to the fact that a report by a commission on the issue of fire safety in hospitals was filed in a sealed cover."What is this report in sealed cover by commission etc? It is not a nuclear secret," Justice Chandrachud had remarked..[Read Order]