MARGAO, DEC 15
In a case that has brought to the fore the functioning of the government and particularly the department of public works, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has cleared the way for demolition of about 21 Sulabh toilets constructed by the government at Manora, Raia.
In this case, one Lidia Barbosa had approached the Additional District Court Margao seeking the direction to demolition the toilets constructed by PWD without her permission.
Incidentally, the District Judge had held that the PWD had constructed the Sulabh toilets without the permission of the landlady and in violation of the proprietary rights and ordered demolition and payment of compensation as damages.
The government preferred an appeal to the High Court against the order of the District Court. The appeal has been rejected with Justice N A Britto of the Bombay High Court holding that the defendants could not have constructed the toilets by encroaching upon the property of the plaintiffs without their permission.
The High Court has upheld their contention raised by Adv. C.A. Coutinho that the Sulabh toilets built by the government were per se illegal and rejected the government contention that the landlady had to file the suit against third parties for whose benefit the government built the toilets. The court further held that upon encroachment into the property of the landlady without her permission the award of damages granted by the District Judge could not be faulted.
The PWD has been building Sulabh at various places under different schemes in recent times and number of instances of high handed action has come to light
