An intervention application by senior citizen and social worker Bhagwan Verma has been accepted by the High Court in which he has challenged the writ filed in the court against the decision for construction of the new Collectorate building in Pauri at the Jail Garden.
The petitioner has contended that under article 163(2) of the Constitution, the court has no jurisdiction in a decision which has been approved by the Governor of the State.
Accepting the PIl, the double bench of Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice UC Dhyani ordered the petitioner to submit the objection within a period of three weeks. Advocate Vinodanand Barthwal standing for the petitioner Bhagwan Verma said that the writ filed in the case of Pauri Collectorate Vs Pauri Municipal Board had been challenged under article 163(2) of the Constitution.
Barthwal said that Uttarakhand High Court had earlier accepted a PIl by Deependra Kala against State of Uttarakhand and three others, the HC double bench permitted the respondent to file response and restrained the respondents from continuing construction on the land in question until further order. Court had also directed that construction of the collectorate building would be permissible only when the state Government informs that an alternate land of the area equal to that of the land in question has been earmarked for the public park. Advocate Barthwal said that Verma’s PIl states that the court does not have the authority to stop construction on the land in question under artile 163(2) of the Constitution as the Governor had already sanctioned construction on the Jail Garden land.