Supreme Court restores Jaipur's Kanak Bhavan to its owners
The court pulled up the Jaipur Development Authority for taking coercive steps without giving sufficient time to the owners to respond to its notice.
The Supreme Court today restored possession of Kanak Bhavan, located in the erstwhile Jaipur royal family’s Rambagh Complex, to its owners, who were evicted by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA).
The JDA was pulled up by a division bench comprising Justice Deepak Verma and Justice KS Radhakrishnan for taking coercive steps without giving sufficient time to the owners to respond to the notice issued by it.
The JDA had on May 22 taken possession of Kanak Bhavan and asked the residents to vacate the place in a short time.
The property was purchased from former maharaja Bhawani Singh in 1986, but the sale agreement was later declared illegal.
"You [JDA] restore possession of the property to the owners forthwith," the bench said, questioning the authority for taking possession of the building immediately after issuing the notice.
"Under which act or law are you allowed to enter into the premises soon after issuing the notice," the bench asked counsel for JDA Manish Singhvi.
Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the owners of Kanak Bhavan, contended that the JDA's action was contrary to established procedure.
The bench noted that a public-interest petition relating to Kanak Bhavan was pending before the Jodhpur high court for the past seven years.