New Delhi: Allowing unauthorised places of worship on roads and pavements of the country was an insult to God, the Supreme Court on Tuesday as it criticised state governments and union territories for taking no action to bring them down.
“You have to demolish such structures. We know you are not doing anything. None of the states are doing anything. You have no right to allow it. God never intended to obstruct path. But you are obstructing path. It is an insult to god,” a Division Bench comprising Justices V Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra observed.
The Bench gave governments in states and union territories two weeks’ time to explain the measures it had taken to remove illegal structures from roads and pavements, Chief secretaries of states will have to be present in court to explanation why states have done nothing despite several orders by courts since 2006 if they failed to comply, the court said.
“We don’t appreciate this kind of attitude,” the bench said.
“If this is the attitude of state administrations and the chief secretaries, why do we pass orders? Do we pass orders for keeping in cold storage? If you have no respect for court orders, we will deal with the states,” the bench said.
The country’s top court was hearing the petition filed in 2006 in which directions were passed to states to remove unauthorised structures, including places of worships, from public places, reported Tribune.
It had on March 8 received a contempt petition against Chhattisgarh government, following which it had asked the state to ascertain the factual position on the basis of allegations made in it.
The court had directed all other states’ counsel to take instructions with regard to the compliance of the interim orders passed by it from time to time in this regard.
The bench in its order noted that despite the March 8 order “none of the states have filed affidavit”.