All good things come to an end in the Supreme Court of India-1

All good things come to an end in the Supreme Court of India-1
Kanpur-19-May-2009
For years during my Research on various topics including the Town Planning Laws of India, I have noted that it is on rare occasions possible for the general public of India to get a few orders from the High Courts, which go a long way in addressing the problems of the teeming masses but All such good things come to an end in the Supreme Court of India, which more often than not stays the Order of the High Court arbitrarily then keeps on sitting on the Petition for years, often decades altogether, resulting in denial of the Relief to the general public, which the High Court took pains to provide. I shall be discussing a few cases periodically, Some cases I am detailing below:-
1. In a Land mark Judgment, the Patna High Court ruled that after the 74th Amendment of the Constitution, All Urban Development Authorities were illegal as no Development Area could be declared. There could be Municipality; There could be Panchayat; There could be District Planning Authority and there could be Metropolitan Planning Authority. All these would have a majority from amongst elected Peoples Representatives and only a minority of Government functionaries, in short the Planning process was given back to the peoples Representatives, and Co-Ordinated Spatial Planning (means related to space i.e. Land etc) was to be done with care to the needs of the Panchayats and the Municipalities. There was to be equal distribution of the natural and other Resources. No longer could there be a purely Urban Development Authority. No longer could a Village even after its Inclusion in a Urban Area be converted in to a Slum of the City. It would co exist with the City as an independent entity.No longer could Bureaucrats enjoy monopoly or majority say in the Planning process. Judgement and order dated 15/07/2004 in CWJC 4148/03 of The HIGH COURT OF PATNA was passed in the case of Md Mustaque v/s State of Bihar, reported in 2004 AIR, Patna-73.
2. However before the general public could be freed from the clutches of the State & Central level Bureaucrats, by abolition of the Urban Development Authorities like Delhi Development Authority etc, the Supreme Court on 05-11-2004 itself stayed the Judgment in Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No(s).22245/2004 as well as WITH SLP(C) NO. 22726 of 2004 (SLP(C) NO. 22935-22936 of 2004
SLP(C) NO. 23105 of 2004.The Petitions were filed by State of Bihar; Patna Regional Development Authority; Gaya Regional Development Authority etc. The State Bureaucrats fearing loss of billions of Rupees of Ghotala and Bribe money, which these Authorities provide them with, went to the upreme Court.
3. However Nitish Kumar, when he became Chief Minister of Bihar, abolished repealed all the Urban/Regional Development Authorities and gave all their powers to the Elected Representatives, the Municipalities in 2007 by Bihar Municipal Bill 2007.Thus for all practical purposes, the Patna High Court Judgment was followed by the State of ihar.
4. Inspite of this the Bureaucrats of the abolished, Non existent Authorities are pursuing the case, i.e. dead man contesting, their Advocates are appearing and they are hoping that if the Supreme Court strikes down the Patna High Court Order, they can prevail upon the Government to create afresh these Golden egg laying authorities for them. The present situation is that five years have passed. The last order of Supreme Court Date: 17/03/2009 reads:
“This SLP is of the year 2004.
There is Court's Order to issue notice with interim stay on 5.11.2004. Thereafter petitioner, State Authority could not serve a single respondent against whom there is an ex-parte stay. The matter was adjourned for 23rd April 2007, 20th August, 2007 and 6th December, 2007 when matter was ordered to be listed before the Hon'ble Chamber Judge for default of the petitioner. By order dated 31st January, 2008, Hon'ble Chamber Judge has granted further four eeks
time by way of last chance with an additional dasti service. Petitioner has failed to serve the unserved respondents till date. Petitioner has also failed to take appropriate steps by selecting proper mode of service, as provided under the Code of Civil Procedure till date.Now, petitioner has filed an application for substituted service on 4th March, 2008. On perusal of such application, it is found that it is not proper and as per rule, in as much as the name of the newspaper are not disclosed in such application, therefore such application cannot be entertained. Considering the fact that matter is pending for confirming service upon single unserved respondent for five years, list the matter before the Hon'ble Chamber Judge for non-prosecution against unserved respondents.”
5. Therefore the benefit given to the general public by the Patna High Court has been denied to the public by the arbitrary and Authoritarian stay order of the Supreme court for the last six years and this may continue for generations. Therefore the Supreme Court, where it stays any order of the lower Courts, must ensure that the case is decided on merits within at the most six months and even if the party obtaining the stay abstains, the Case must be decided. In the present case, if the Case is dismissed, simply for default of the Petioner, the important point raised by the Honorable Patna high Court will be left un answered and leading to future Confusion as well in cases of other States, which may raise the issue again in case of any similar Judgment passed by their High Courts.
6. This article will be continued regarding other cases, where the Public interest benefic Judgments passed by the High Courts have come to an end in the Supreme Court of India.
Robby Sharma
865, Block-B, Panki Kanpur-208020
email—sharmarobby@hotmail.com
Mob-91-9415438326;9235844258.