Petitions filed for publishing draft of development plan

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Two petitions were filed in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court requesting it to issue orders to publish the draft development plan of the city immediately.

HC bench comprising Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Y G Khobragade ordered to serve notice to the Principal Secretary of the respondent Urban Development Department and other respondents.

The bench made it clear that further proceedings regarding the draft of the development plan will be subject to the final decision of the petition. The next hearing has been placed on January 17.

Syed Sarawat Begum Aref Hussain and Hazrabi have filed petitions in the bench. In the petitions, they requested the court to give orders for publishing the draft and also bar the new department concerned from interference in the draft.

According to the petitioners, there was a huge discrepancy in the draft of the development plan released by the Municipal Corporation in 2016. Using its own powers, the civic body converted more than 500 reservations.

Therefore, in 2016, the same petitioners had filed a petition in the bench which cancelled the draft development plan that had changes. Those orders were also upheld by the Supreme Court. According to the court decision, there were no instructions for the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation to take any action. However, in the bench's 2016 orders, it was stated that the deputy director or joint director should complete the remaining work.

In 2021, the State Government asked the Town Planning Department of Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation to carry out the remaining work of the city development plan draft. The Department completed the work while the Government appointed Shrikant Deshmukh as Deputy Director.

In the contempt petition, the bench had ordered that the record of work done by the previous department should be handed over to the new department within three months. As per the court orders, the record and draft of the development plan were also handed over. After this, it was expected to publish the draft development plan. But, it did not happen. So, two petitions were filed. Senior lawyers R N Dhorde and V D Sapkal appeared for the petitioners. Chief Public Prosecutor Amarjitsinh Girase represented the government while adv S S Tope was present for the Municipal Corporation.