Former J&K Deputy Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nirmal Singh was served a demolition notice by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) for raising an "illegally-constructed" house.
The JDA has asked him to remove his house within five days, reported news agency IANS on Wednesday, 10 November.
"Now, therefore in exercise of power conferred under section 7 (3) Control of Building Operation Act, 1988 read with Resolution No JDA/CTP/BPC/26-B dated: 06-10-2007 of the Building Operations Controlling Authority Jammu Local Area you are hereby directed to remove the illegal construction on your own level within five days from the date of issuance of the order," the notice stated.
The notice dated 8 November further said that if the house is not demolished within five days, the JDA will have it removed by its enforcement wing.
“...If you fail to remove the illegal construction within the stipulated period of time, the same shall be demolished by the enforcement wing of Jammu Development Authority and cost of removal shall be recovered from you as arrears of land revenue,” the notice read.
Reacting to the notice, the BJP leader said that the matter is sub judice and added that he would be consulting his lawyers for the future course of action, reported PTI.
Singh's residence is a palatial bungalow near the Army’s ammunition sub-depot at Ban village of Nagrota. The former deputy CM and his family had moved into the house on 23 July 2020, despite a high court order from May 2018 that had asked authorities to implement strictly a 2015 notification preventing construction within 1,000 yards of defence installations.
The construction work on this residence had started in 2017, causing the Army to send a letter to Singh, then deputy CM. According to PTI, Singh had claimed it was a political conspiracy against him.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI.)
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