The Supreme Court has criticized government agencies for remaining inactive when illegal construction took place. After receiving information about sealing of 44 buildings in the Central Market area of Meerut, the court said that if timely action had been taken, the situation of closure of the entire market would not have arisen today.
On April 7, the bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Vishwanathan had strongly reprimanded the officials for the commercial activities taking place on residential land. On Thursday (April 9, 2026), Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Council presented its report. The council said that 44 properties in the market have been completely sealed.
The council told the court that not only showrooms and business complexes, but also 6 schools, 6 hospitals and 3 banks were running in these 44 commercial buildings. All these buildings have been taken under administrative control. Meerut administration said that on humanitarian grounds, it has got the students from the school and serious patients admitted in the hospital admitted to another place.
During the hearing, the court adopted a strict stance on the shops running in the ‘setback’ of the market. ‘Setback’ is the space which is mandatory to be left vacant around the building as per the rules. The court said that any construction done by enclosing the setback land should not be regularized. The administration has been given 2 months time to demolish all such illegal constructions. The court said that a notice should be issued to the building owners and they should be given an opportunity to remove the illegal portion themselves. If he does not do so, the council will take legal action to break it. The cost of demolition should also be recovered from those shop owners.
The court also wanted to know whether there is a possibility of regularizing any construction by law. The court has asked that if some constructions can be regularized under the bye-laws of the Municipal Corporation by charging a fine, then a detailed ‘status report’ should be filed on this. Unless the report makes it clear which construction comes under the purview of the rules, no one should be given relief.
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