Part-2-All good things come to an end in the Supreme Court of India-Polo-ground case.

Part-2-All good things come to an end in the Supreme Court of India-Polo-ground case.
Kanpur-21-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,dated-April-12-2005 the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc Writ Petition No.54536 of 2004, in the matter of Vivek Srivastava V/S Union of India while considering whether, the Cantonment Board/ Union Of India/ army authorities could build Staff Quarters on a Open piece of Land, owned by them, which was being used for decades as a Polo ground and thus open green area, within the Allahabad Civil Lines Area, passed the Judgment as below:- “In order to implement a disaster management plan it is necessary that open spaces exist in the city. These open pieces of land could be used for various purposes during an emergency. In times of floods, fire, earthquakes etc., open spaces in the city could be used to minimize and curb the human suffering caused by the natural calamities. Disaster management is an integral part of the development activities and cannot be separated from a sustainable development of the city. For a sustainable development of the city, and for a healthy growth of a city, existence of open spaces, green belt is essential. For the aforesaid reasons, it is necessary to maintain open spaces for disaster management plan. Thus, in view of the aforesaid, we are of the view that the land in question known as ''Old Polo Ground' measuring approximately 22.77 acres of land, should not be used for the residential construction for the married accommodation project for the married officers of the Army. The respondents have other large tracts of open land in the Cantonment which could be easily utilized for the construction of 48 dwelling units proposed under MAP on the Old Polo Ground in the Civil Lines area of the city of Allahabad. The existing piece of land which is the lungs of the city should be preserved as such. Consequently, a writ of mandamus is issued to the respondents, restraining them from making any construction on the Polo ground in question and to maintain it as an open piece of land. The respondents had dug up the land at a few places in the Polo Ground and the same was stopped on account of an interim order passed by this Court. Since we have restrained the respondents from making any constructions, we further direct the respondents to restore the land to its original shape within three months from today. The writ petition stands allowed with the directions as given above. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to cost. Dated : April 12,2005 AKJ”
2. However before the general public could reap the benefit of the green judgment of the High Court, the Union of India filed an SLP in the Supreme Court of India , vide SLP No. 14959 of 2005, later on converted to Appeal Civil No.5866 of 2006. There is a stay by the Supreme Court for last four years and as such a very important Question of Law remains undecided by the Supreme Court, the matter has not been listed after 15-12-2006 and that too after the three judges bench on 15-12-2006 itself said “Hearing of the appeal is expedited.”
3. Therefore the benefit given to the general public (having similar grievance in other towns and Cities of India), by the Allahabad High Court has been denied to the public by the arbitrary and Authoritarian stay order of the Supreme court for the last about four 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, or the Appeal is dismissed, only on technical grounds, the Case must be decided on merit and the question of law raised decided once and for all, so that future Confusion (in cases of other States, which may raise the issue again in case of any similar Judgment passed by their High Courts) is avoided.
4. 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 and have been pending since ages.
Robby Sharma
865, Block-B, Panki Kanpur-208020
email—sharmarobby@hotmail.com
Mob-91-9415438326;9235844258.