Bombay High Court directs Collector to reconstruct demolished crematorium in a month

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Mumbai Suburban District Collector to reconstruct or repair a Hindu crematorium which had been demolished by the State authorities after the same was declared illegal by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). [Chetan Kodarlal Vyas v. Union of India & Ors.].A Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Madhav Jamdar dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) which had alleged that the crematorium at Erangal beach was constructed illegally on the beach by the fisherfolk community."This writ petition, purportedly filed to serve public interest, is one more example of abuse of the PIL jurisdiction of this Court. Under the pretext that the same has been filed for protecting ecology and environment, it is in fact filed for serving vested interests of others", the Court observed in its 26 page order. .The petitioner's argument was that the construction was in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.The Court while dismissing the plea also imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on the petitioner to be paid to the fisherfolk community."This PIL is filed to destroy legal rights of weaker section i.e. fishermen community for the purpose of securing commercial interest of said resort. The PIL petitioner and, possibly the said resort, succeeded in demolishing said crematorium through government machinery under the pretext that High Court has directed demolition of the same" the Bench observed..The Bench had in an earlier hearing expressed its displeasure at the manner in which the District Collector had carried out the demolition without giving a fair hearing to the fisherfolk community.Hence, the Bench directed the Collector to reconstruct the crematorium.However, the Court also permitted the Collector to recover the money required for such work from the PIL petitioner..The Bench during an earlier hearing admonished the swift action of the Collector to demolish the structures and even summoned the officer to court.The Court was also informed in a subsequent hearing that on September 13, 2022, the MCZMA had rejected an application seeking reconstruction of the structures on the ground that there were petitions pending before the High Court.The Bench in its order today quashed and set aside the minutes of meeting of the MCZMA..[Read order]