Authority: High Court at Calcutta
Order Date: 28 August 2026
Case Overview
- Petitioners: Swapan Kumar Dutta & Ors.; Respondents: State of West Bengal & Ors., represented by Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
- The petition (WPA 23811 of 2025) challenged a demolition order dated 25 September 2025 issued by the Commissioner, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
- Earlier, a demolition order dated 23 August 2025 had been passed against the petitioners; they filed a prior writ petition (WPA 19085 of 2025) which was disposed on 26 August 2026, setting aside the demolition order and directing the corporation to give the petitioners an opportunity of hearing and to produce the original sanctioned plan for the premises.
- The premises in question: a three‑storied building constructed at Premises No. 448/A, Nabapally, Salt Lake, Sector‑IV, Police Station – Bidhannagar South, Kolkata – 700098.
- Petitioners alleged the State sought acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, later received a notice of illegal and unauthorized construction, and claimed denial of natural‑justice rights (no notice, no hearing).
- The Coordinate Bench ordered petitioners to produce the original sanctioned plan and a photocopy for the corporation’s adjudication; the petitioners were granted liberty to appear before the Commissioner.
- An e‑mail dated 4 September 2025, 6:11 p.m. was cited, stating that a hearing fixed for 4 August 2025, 5:00 p.m. before the Commissioner could not be attended because the receiving section of the corporation was closed; petitioners argued they were not given adequate hearing.
- The municipal authorities reportedly offered the petitioners an alternative plot in a meeting.
- The Municipal Building Tribunal appointed under Section 295A of the West Bengal Municipal Corporation Act, 2006, is functional, as noted by counsel for the municipal authority.
Final Outcome
- The Court held the petition confined to the demolition order challenge and observed that the petitioners had already been afforded a hearing per the earlier coordinate bench order dated 26 August 2025.
- The Court found the demolition order not perverse; it could only demolish the illegal building and could not evict the petitioners from their property.
- Consequently, the Court was not inclined to entertain the writ petition and disposed of it.
- The petitioners retain the right to challenge the demolition order by filing a statutory appeal in accordance with law, potentially before the Municipal Building Tribunal.
- The order directs that a certified copy of this order be provided to the parties upon compliance with requisite formalities.
Topics: Court Order, Municipal Demolition, Legal Remedy