Kerala High Court Directs Thrissur Corporation To Pay Damages For Demolishing Licensed Bunk Shop Despite Interim Protection Order

The Kerala High Court has ordered Thrissur Corporation to pay Rs. 50,000 damages to a woman whose deceased husband's licensed bunk shop was demolished despite interim protection orders passed by the Court.A single judge bench of Justice A Muhamed Mustaque said it cannot overlook the "high handed action" of the authority but awarded only nominal damages considering that an alternative shop was subsequently allotted to the woman."This Court is competent to pass orders that grant relief in such a manner as to uphold the fundamental rights of a citizen. This Court cannot ignore such illegal action in violation of the Court order," it remarked.The land is in possession of the Corporation for construction of skywalk. Corporation's Secretary claimed he had not issued any orders for demolition and that he has no direct knowledge regarding the actions and circumstances leading to demolition of the shop room.Court said the Corporation would be free to fix responsibility and recover the amount from erring officer.The issue relates to demolition of the shop, with the petitioner submitting that they had suffered a loss of approximately Rs. 3,53,700/- and as such, ought to be compensated. The writ petition was filed by the widow of the late Shanmughan who had previously approached the court challenging an order of eviction of a licensed bunk shop. The court had passed an interim order in that matter, directing the secretary of Thrissur Corporation to finalise the list of street vendors under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. An interim order was also passed directing the respondent to reconnect the electricity supply to the petitioner.The court observed that the Thrissur corporation “cannot wriggle out from the responsibility to pay the damages” and directed a sum of Rs. 50,000 to be paid towards damages, adding that this would not preclude the petitioners from approaching the civil court for compensation of the actual loss.Counsel for Petitioners: Advocates Kaleeswaram Raj, Varun C Vijay and Thulasi K rajCounsel for Respondents: Advocates Santhosh P Poduval, Santhosh Kumar G and Sr. Government Pleader AJ VargheseCase Title: Maheswari S & ors v. State of Kerala & ors.Case Number: WP(C) No. 498 of 2022Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 110Click here to read/download Order

Kerala High Court Directs Thrissur Corporation To Pay Damages For Demolishing Licensed Bunk Shop Despite Interim Protection Order

Rubayya Tasneem

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