The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has recently apprised the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir that for uniform application of building bye-laws, the Unified Building Bye-Laws have been prescribed, which have been adopted by 35 urban local bodies.
Filed in response to a suo motu PIL registered for getting the necessary Rules/Regulations/Bye-laws framed for controlling building activities in such areas, the UT administration stated that the Municipal Committee, Akhnoor, could not adopt the Unified Building Bye-Laws because there was a no-confidence motion moved by the President of the Committee.
It is further stated that adoption of the Unified Building Bye-Laws by Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Jammu Municipal Corporation, Jammu Development Authority as well as Srinagar Development Authority shall be done shortly after seeking the approval of respective Councils and Board of Directors.
It is urged that the Vice Chairman, Lakes and Waterway Development Authority has also adopted the Unified Building Bye-Laws and forwarded the same to the Government Press, Srinagar for publication. It is further urged that the said bye-laws can be enforced only after their publication in the Government gazette.
The Division Bench of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Mohd Akram Chowdhary while considering the response of the UT administration, ordered that steps be taken to ensure the said bye-laws are published in the gazette within a period not later than two weeks and a compliance report be filed in this regard.
“Insofar as the adoption of the Unified Building Bye-Laws by the Municipal Committee, Akhnoor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Jammu Municipal Corporation, Jammu Development Authority as well as Srinagar Development Authority is concerned, a compliance report be also filed with regard to the steps taken for purposes of adoption of the said bye-laws in regard to the aforementioned corporations and authorities,”
-the order reads.
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It is pertinent to note that October 7 , the Jammu Bench headed by Chief Justice while hearing a case of Som Nath v. State of J&K in its judgment and order dated 16.09.2021 has observed that in the absence of the Rules/Regulations/Bye-laws/Schemes governing the construction activity in some areas covered by municipalities, large-scale activity is going on in an illegal way disturbing the entire infrastructure of cities and causing serious problems with regard to civic amenities.
The Chief Justice therefore opined that the matter be dealt with as a PIL for the purposes of getting the necessary Rules/Regulations/Bye-laws framed for controlling the building activities in such areas. Accordingly, the Court directed that the PIL be registered as “Court on its own motion v. Union Territory of J&K through its (i) Chief Secretary; and (ii) Commissioner/Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department.”