Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)

Puttur, Mar 19: Through an order issued on Wednesday March 18, Karnataka High Court has dismissed the order issued by Puttur Municipality, asking Yeltimar Traders and Industries and others, to vacate the building from which the concerns are operating from.

It may be recalled that the municipality had termed the building in which the above concerns are housed, as very old and unsafe. The municipal chief officer had ordered for the eviction of the shops located in the building, claiming that the same is required for road widening. Last week, all licences of the firms housed therein were cancelled and the municipal officials had tried to force the concerns to vacate the building with the help of the policemen.

Through a writ petition, Yeltimar Traders and others functioning from the building had approached the High Court for relief. Raghuram Shenoy, owner of Yeltimar Traders said that the building stands in his own land and that the municipality wants to forcibly acquire the land on which the building stands.

"We are ready to sacrifice land required for the road widening subject to payment of suitable compensation. The municipality wants to forcibly drive us out of the building, without paying any compensation and thereby trying to work unconstitutionally. In the past too, it had tried to bulldoze the building instead of following legal means and a stay order had been secured against the effort then. The municipality is falsely projecting the building as unsafe," they had argued.

The High Court, while declaring the municipal order as illegal, said that the municipality does not have the power to forcibly evict persons and concerns from the building. Advocate P P Hegde appeared for the hearing on behalf of the petitioners.