Vishalgad Fort Row: Bombay HC Halts Demolitions During Monsoon, Warns 'Will Come Down Heavily' If Order Flouted
An anti-encroachment drive at Vishalgad fort turned violent on July 14 after a mob hurled stones at police personnel and damaged properties, leading to the arrest of 21 people.
Vishalgad Fort Row: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government and police to ensure no structure around the Vishalgad Fort in Kolhapur is demolished during monsoon. This comes after a mob damaged properties and hurled stones at police personnel on July 14 during an anti-encroachment drive. This led to the arrest of 21 people and registeration of cases against 500 others, news agency PTI reported.
The situation turned violent after some right-wing supporters, who had arrived from Pune, were not allowed to enter the fort and were stopped at the base due to prohibitory orders.
A division bench headed by Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla and B P Colabawalla stated that it would take action against authorities in case any residential or commercial structure was demolished in the Vishalgad Fort area starting July 18.
To this, P P Kakade, Government pleader, assured the high court that no residential premises in the Vishalgad Fort area will be demolished during monsoons, whether they are petitioner's or otherwise.
'Will Not Hesitate To Send Officer Behind Bars If Order Is Breached': Bombay HC
The bench also raised concerns about the violent incident in the area that took place on July 14.
Directing senior inspector of the Shahuwadi police station to be present before the court on July 29, to inform the bench about the police action taken against those involved in the violence.
"Who is in charge of the law and order situation in Vishalgad? We would like the senior inspector of the said police station to come before us," the court said.
The court accepted the statement of the state government's pleader and ordered no demolition shall be carried out till September, PTI reported.
"We record your statement that you will not demolish till September, and if the same is breached, we will not hesitate to send the officer behind bars. We make it clear that if we find any structure demolished from today, commercial or household, we will come down heavily on your officers/authorities," the bench stated.
Residents Seek SIT Probe Into Alleged Violence By Right-Wing Activists
On Friday, the court was hearing a petition that was filed by some Shahuwadi taluka residents, urging the court to form a special investigation team headed by a former high court judge. They requested the court to form an SIT to investigate the alleged violence by right-wing activists.
Petitioners' advocate S B Talekar also showed the bench a video of the alleged violence, following which the court flagged concerns about the prevailing law and order situation at the fort.
The court questioned: "Where is the law and order? These are not your (state police) officers, right? So who are these men? Are you not responsible for maintaining law and order in the state? We want to know if any FIR is lodged in this matter."
As per the claims of the petitioners, right-wing activists who were led by former member of Rajya Sabha Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, gathered at the fort's base even after prohibitory orders were issued by the tehsildar of Shahuwadi.
The plea stated that the district administration had deployed police at the spot in order to prevent 'right-wing' activists from entering Vishalgad, protecting the Muslim residents and their properties in the premises.
Despite the prohibitory orders, the police as per the plea allowed around 100 protesters to scale the fort, which created an atmosphere of chaos and lawlessness. The violent situation went on for almost two hours in the village, the petitioners alleged.
Last year, the state Archaeology Department had sent notices to many people, including some of the petitioners, to demolish their structures within the fort area.
This led petitioners to move the high court against the notices. They claimed that the 300-acre fort precinct was declared a protected monument in 1999, whereas they had been living there much before that. They requested a stay on the demolition of shops and houses, including the Hazrat Peer Malik Rehan Dargah at Vishalgad fort.
The court, in February 2023, stayed the notices and directed that no demolition or coercive action should be taken against the petitioners.
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