Summary
Contempt proceedings concerning a building near Jantar Mantar were closed because the earlier judgment contained no express demolition direction for the existing structure, and repair permissions had been revoked before the contempt petition. The Court’s inspection-based assessment noted no vertical or horizontal expansion since 2003. It left the legality of permissions, the structure’s status and any demolition to the pending proceedings, without validating the construction.
Issues
- Whether non-demolition and the subsequently revoked repair permissions established contempt of the 2012 judgment.
- Whether demolition of the existing structure could be ordered in these contempt proceedings.
Held
- The structure had already existed when the earlier judgment was delivered; that judgment gave no specific direction deciding its status or requiring demolition. The later inspection showed completion of finishing work and habitability without vertical or horizontal expansion. (¶ 17)
- Permissions for finishing the existing structure had been revoked in June 2016 before the contempt petition. Their legality and the effect of revocation were already disputed in pending proceedings and were not determined here. (¶ 18–19)
- The contempt inquiry concerned violation of express directions. It could not supply a demolition direction absent from the earlier judgment; all issues about the structure and demolition remained open. (¶ 19–20)
Result
Contempt petition closed. High Court requested to dispose of all pending matters expeditiously, preferably within six months, in light of the earlier judgment. All issues, including the existing structure’s status and whether it should be demolished, left for decision in those matters.