Municipal authority is under obligation to follow due process of law prior to demolition of unauthorised construction
Mere issuance of notice under the said section is not sufficient to suggest that the due process of law has been followed, inasmuch as after issuance of notice, the concerned person would file response and which response has to be considered by appropriate officer designated for that purpose and that officer is obliged to pass decision, one way or the other. Moreover, such a decision has to be communicated to the affected person giving reasonable opportunity to that person to challenge that decision as permissible by law. There is nothing on record to show that such a course has been followed. Unless such a course was followed, it is not possible to conclude that due process of law has been complied with. If the record placed before the Court suggests that due process of law has not been complied with, then, obviously, the application as preferred by the petitioner deserves to be considered and appropriate orders passed thereon. However, as observed earlier, the Court below has rejected the application on the solitary ground, which is unacceptable for the reasons indicated above.
