The Madhya Pradesh High Court has taken up a Public Interest Litigation filed by a senior citizen seeking action against illegal constructions on public land and land belonging to the railways in Gwarighat, Jabalpur. The petition alleges that organizers erected a Durga puja pandal on roads leading to Purani Bast and Brahmrishi Colony, and also on railway property that had become vacant, at Ramlala Mandir Chownk. It is further alleged that a temporary pandal is being converted into a permanent shed made of metal.
According to the petitioner, Indian Railways removed the illegal metal shed in January 2025 after a complaint. However, later permissions were reportedly granted to organisers to hold the event on railway land. The petitioner also contends that even when railways lease their land, any large-scale construction or installation—even for events—must follow permissions from other authorities such as the District Collector, Municipal Corporation, Fire Department, and Electricity Department, as per judicial guidelines from prior years. The petitioner challenged the legality of those permissions.
During the hearings, the Court raised questions about locus standi, asking how the petitioner was personally affected when no objection had come from railway authorities. The petitioner responded that he regularly uses the affected road routes and experiences obstruction and traffic diversions caused by the pandal. The Court asked the petitioner to provide the latest photographs and a site plan of the area.
The respondent, Indian Railways, submitted that permission has been provided to organisers to hold the Durga Puja event. However, the petitioner disputed this, saying that permissions did not meet legal requirements.
The High Court, a division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, has directed that the organisers of the pandal also be impleaded as respondents in the PIL. The Court has listed the matter for further hearing on a later date.
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