The Rajasthan High Court has recently disposed of a PIL which alleged that the Municipal Board, Pali has illegally allotted plots to individuals for construction of shops by auctioning land earmarked for a public park.
According to the PIL, the allottees have filed multiple applications for joining parties to resist the prayers made by the petitioner.
The Municipal Board, Pali has filed a recent affidavit dated 05.09.2021, in which it is stated that the authorities were not aware about the order passed by the civil court and due to this inadvertent error, auction proceedings have taken place. However, upon realizing this error, the authority has cancelled the auction proceedings by passing order dated 03.09.2021 and the amount received by the Municipal Board, Pali from the successful bidders has also been returned.
In view of these developments, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Rekha Borana observed that the primary prayer of the petitioner does not survive.
The counsel for the applicants, however, contended that the Municipal Board, Pali has indulged in illegal activity. The plots were auctioned and without any reason the auction was cancelled. He therefore submitted that the Court should enquire into these developments further.
“In this public interest petition, we are not inclined to do the same. If the applicants are aggrieved by any of the action of the Municipal Board, it is always open for them to challenge the same by instituting proper proceeding. In this public interest petition, there is no hope for the applicants to get any such relief. With these observations, the public interest petition is disposed of. The applications for joining parties are refused,” the order reads.
It is pertinent to note that original petitioner has died. The substitution application is filed, which was allowed.