Clear officials suppressing facts from Bombay High Court: Kirit Somaiya on Dapoli case

Clear officials suppressing facts from Bombay High Court: Kirit Somaiya on Dapoli case

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday moved an interim application in the Bombay High Court in response to a plea challenging a notice issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) to the owner of a plot of land at Dapoli, asking the owner to show-cause why Sai Resorts NX, which has come up on the land, and the roads leading to it, should not be demolished.

Somaiya claimed the affidavit in reply, filed by Dapoli sub-divisional officer Sharad Bhagwan Pawar, which said the resort cannot be demolished as a court had ordered status quo in connection to a civil suit filed by resort owner Sadanand Gangaram Kadam, was “misleading and suppressed the material facts from the High Court.” “It leads to interference in administration justice, which is tantamount to criminal contempt of court,” the application said.

“It is clear that government officials suppressed the facts from the HC to help the petitioner in illegal land grabbing of the foreshore area by illegitimate encroachment. Cooperation of the officials in protecting illegal constructions is evident.. Strict action must be taken against government officials for suppressing the facts from court to help the petitioner and interfere with administration of justice,” stated the application. Somaiya, who is an intervenor in the plea, had sought dismissal of Kadam’s petition and had said the same was based on “suppressing apparent instances of forgery, cheating and dishonest inducement for illegal conversion of land use, criminal misconduct by public servant and commit-ant construction of commercial resort in no development zone”.

Somaiya claimed that Kadam’s petition violated provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011, and this has been suppressed by him. Kadam’s petition has stated that the MOEFCC notice not only referred to the demolition of the structure and restoration of the land to its original mode, but also sought a payment of Rs 25.27 lakh towards damage caused to the environment. Kadam has claimed that the notices were issued at the behest of “politically influential people”, rivals of Anil Parab, who belonged to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction.

In October, the HC had directed the ministry to issue a notice to Kadam on when the “illegal structure” would be demolished so that he could move the appropriate forum in time. Continuing the liberty granted to Kadam to approach the court if adverse action is taken against the resort, the bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta posted the matter for next hearing on January 9, 2023.