SC sets aside Allahabad HC direction ordering demolition of Panchayat Bhawan in UP's Pilibhit

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Observing that public money should not go waste, the Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Allahabad High Court's direction ordering demolition of a Panchayat Bhawan at a village in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh.

The high court had directed the demolition of the bhawan at Phirsah Churrah village while acting on a PIL that alleged that the construction obstructed a village pathway.

"After all this is government money which was used for construction of Panchayat Bhawan that too on a Gram Sabha land... the public money should not go waste," a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said while modifying the high court order of March 4, 2024.

During the hearing, the top court was apprised that an alternative pathway has already been provided and moreover, the building was built on Gram Sabha land only.

Saving the building from demolition, the bench directed the district collector to personally inspect the site and see whether there was a pathway or not.

It further asked the district collector to see that the row over pathway is resolved and reiterated that the Panchayat Bhawan cannot be demolished.

A PIL was filed in 2022 in the high court by villager Angrej Singh seeking removal of encroachment over plot No 254, which, according to him, was as a public pathway in revenue records. PTI SJK ZMN