CWP No. 1162 of 2008 [ 1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 1162 of 2008 Date of Decision: 04.11.2008 Ravinder Singh Soundha ..Petitioner versus State of Punjab and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.S.THAKUR,CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASBIR SINGH 1.Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. Whether to be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present : Mr. M.K.Singla, Advocate for the petitioner Ms. Madhu Dayal, Addl. A.G. Punjab for respondents No.1, 3 and 4. ***** T.S.Thakur, C.J. (Oral) This petition has been filed in public interest. It prays for a mandamus restraining the private respondents and their agents from illegally encroaching upon the road connecting National Highway No.1 to Nabha Via Tarkhan Majra-Bhadson and thereby preventing any inconvenience to the general public. In the reply filed on behalf of respondents No.1, 3 and 4, it is inter-alia stated that the competent authority has by an order dated 21.6.2005 permitted the construction of a Memorial Gate on the request of CWP No. 1162 of 2008 [ 2] Mr. Harmel Singh Tohra and other residents of village Tohra. Copy of the said permission letter is annexed as Annexure R-1 to the counter affidavit. From a reading of the said document, it is clear that permission for construction of the Memorial Gate is subject to the following conditions:- i) These Memorial Gates will be constructed at your own costs. ii)The designs and drawings of these Gates will be got approved from this office prior to constructions of the Gate, so that there may be no hindrance to the traffic after the construction of the Gates. iii)The size of the Gate and place where the Gate is to be construction is also to be got approved from the Department.” It is argued on behalf of the petitioner that the construction of the gates in question was in violation of the condition extracted above and hence illegal. Ms. Dayal, learned Addl. Advocate General, Punjab appearing for respondents No.1 to 4, however, submits that construction of the gate had been stopped as no design or drawing of the gate had been got approved from the office of Superintending Engineer as required vide condition No. 2 (supra). Similarly, the size of the gate and the place where the gate has to be constructed has also not been got approved from the concerned Department. She submits that since the work has already been stopped, there is no room for any direction from this Court. We have given our careful consideration to the submission made at the Bar. The fact that the construction of the Memorial Gate has been permitted by the competent authority, is not in dispute. The only CWP No. 1162 of 2008 [ 3] question that arises for consideration is whether the conditions subject to which the said permission was granted should or should not be strictly enforced by the authorities. As pointed out by Ms. Dayal, Addl. Advocate General, Punjab, the authorities have already stopped the construction which indicates that the authorities have taken steps to enforce the conditions subject to which the permission was granted. In the circumstances, all that we need say, in the present proceedings, is that the construction in question may be allowed by the authorities concerned but only upon fulfillment of the conditions subject to which the permission for such construction was granted. In case the conditions are satisfied, there should be no impediment to the construction of the gate especially when approval of the designs and drawings of the gate as also the size of the gate and the place where the gate has to be constructed, is looked into by the competent authority and granted. The authorities shall ensure that the construction of any such gate does not obstruct the smooth flow of the traffic on the road. The writ petition is accordingly disposed off with the above observations leaving the parties to bear their own costs. (T.S.THAKUR) CHIEF JUSTICE (JASBIR SINGH) 04.11.2008 JUDGE 'ravinder'