The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) directing the respondent authorities to refrain from demolishing or reconstructing Devaraja Market building and Lansdowne Building of Mysore City.
Objection Statement to the petition has been filed by the respondent- State stating that during the pendency of the writ petition, the State of Karnataka had enacted Zonal Regulations (Amendment), 2020 (ZRA) in terms of which, the Deputy Commissioner, Mysore has been vested with the authority and power to constitute a committee which would take decision in accordance with zonal regulation and thus sought for disposal of the petition.
From the very averments made in the petition and in the statements of objections, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal noted that the aforesaid buildings, namely Devaraja Market and Lansdowne building, though regarded as heritage buildings of 130 years old; are in dilapidated condition; that substantial portions of the said buildings have fallen down and occupants of Lansdowne building have been vacated and sheltered in a temporary accommodation; Public entry into the said building has been barred; that the respondent – Corporation indeed made attempts to restore and renovate Devaraja Market building by engaging the services of a private entity and that the restoration work could not be continued as the building was in a very poor and dilapidated condition and portion of its Northern entrance and some of the shops collapsed during the restoration work.
These events have admittedly led to constitution of Task Force and Special Heritage Committees, who have conducted extensive tests as noted above; Mysore Urban Development Authority obtained the report of Technical Division of the Director of Karnataka Engineering Research Station and Executive Engineer, Quality Control.
The expert from the said Karnataka Engineering Research Station visited the Market, tested the soil type, type of foundation, depth of foundation, compressive strength of the bricks, non-destructive tests, rebound hammer test, ultrasonic pulse velocity test, extraction of concrete core on concrete element and core extraction on concrete parts, extent of corrosion of steel reinforcement and submitted a report dated 28.09.2019 stating that the Market building had lost its capacity and was not suitable for public use;
The said Expert Committee again met on 21.11.2019 and 02.12.2019 and also inspected the Devaraja Market, discussed all the issues and the majority of the members were of the opinion that the existing building had to be demolished; The Special Heritage Committee met on 10.12.2019 deliberated taking into consideration the test reports of the Karnataka Engineering Research Station, Expert Committee Decision, Mysuru-Nanjanagud Master Plan 2031 and recommended for demolishing and reconstruction of new buildings as per the existing architecture; that pursuant to the recommendation of the Special Heritage Committee, Mysore City Corporation Council passed a resolution on 30.01.2020 approving the recommendation of Special Heritage Committee and sought State Government’s permission to proceed further.
The Principle contentions put fourth on behalf of the petitioners are; that the status of these buildings will have to be considered by the Heritage Conservation Committee for Mysore to be constituted as per Zonal Regulation (Amendment) 2020; that the report of the Heritage Conservation Committee submitted by the respondent No.2 cannot be relied upon as the said Committee is not constituted in terms of Regulation (Amendment), 2020; and that members of the said committee lack required qualification and expertise in the field.
The other submission of the counsel for the petitioners is that the Task Force Committee and the Special Heritage Committee reports of the years 2018 and 2019 are not of Heritage Conservation Committee which is constituted pursuant to the orders of this Court and therefore, no significance can be attached. The Court was unable to accept the above submission for the reason that the Task Force Committee and Special Heritage Committee were constituted by the Deputy Commissioner prior to the orders of the Court with an object that there has to be adequate representation of experts in the field.
At the cost of repetition, the High Court stated that the members of the Task Force Committee and the Special Heritage Committee are experts in the field such as, Historians, Academicians, Civil Engineers and the persons from Architect field. It is nobody’s case that the Deputy Commissioner had not authority to constitute such committee or he has some mala fide intention while constituting these committees. These committees were constituted for getting expert opinion in the field who undertook the exercise of spot inspection of Devaraja Market and collected necessary material and thereafter, opined that it will not be advisable to reconstruct the building and the only course open is to demolish the building.
“It is settled law that when it comes to an issue of consideration of experts’ view/opinion, courts of law should be circumspect in showing indulgence, as the Courts do not possess the expertise.”
Considering all the above aspects and also the fact that a portion of Devaraja Market building was collapsed while carrying on restoration activity and the probable danger to market, the Bench opined that the Court cannot sit as an appellate body in writ jurisdiction to set aside the opinion of the experts.