The MP High Court on Tuesday stayed the eviction notices issued by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) to the residents of Khanugaon locality, adjacent to Upper lake in Bhopal.

Notably, the BMC administration had served eviction notices to 31 residents of Khanugaon on August 6 asking them to vacate the place within 24 hours. They were though provided partial relief then by the interference of Mayor Alok Sharma. The BMC notice to Khanugaon residents came on the heels of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order to remove illegal structures situated within 50 metres of full tank level (FTl) of the Upper lake.

Begum of Bhopal Sharmila Tagore and five others moved the petition in the MPHC challenging the BMC eviction notice. The BMC served the eviction notices on the pretext that their belongings were in violation of Bhopal master plan 2005 and within 50 metres of the full-tank level (FTl) of the Upper lake.

The petitioners refuted by claiming that the constructions are decades old and Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 is not applicable, retrospectively.

Sharmila Tagore and family of Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi claim some 500 acres land around Khanugoan including 250 acres of the Upper lake. The land was listed as the personal property of the last Nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan. Pataudi's mother Sajida Sultan was recognized as Hamidullah Khan's successor by the Union Government in 1961.

Pataudi's lawyer Rajesh Pancholi said, "MPHC has given a stay in the matter of 31 notices to people residing in Khanugoan. These properties were of the employees of the Bhopal Nawab for decades and the constructions are older than the MP Municipal Corporation Act, 1956."

Pataudi's lawyer was critical of the BMC for inaction against other properties that also fall within the FTl level of the Upper lake. "We have presented photographic evidence of many new constructions that fall within FTl and have been overlooked by the BMC. We are for the Upper lake to be pollution-free. However, the BMC action in the matter has been directed with mala fide intention," he alleged. When contacted, the BMC Mayor, Alok Sharma, said, "MPHC decision has been brought to my notice. We will review the notice and act accordingly."