Madhya Pradesh: Whereas bar and bench kiss and make up, dry days loom

A PIL filed by one other Jabalpur advocate claimed that of the 1,259 police stations in Madhya Pradesh, over 800 had non secular buildings on their premises. The petitioner argued that it constituted misuse of presidency property and was a violation of constitutional values. Police stations being public areas, the petition argued, non secular buildings couldn’t be hosted there.
A bench presided over by Justice Kait ordered a establishment to be maintained within the first listening to on 5 November 2024, when it served a discover on the state authorities. Dissatisfied with the reply of the state on the second listening to on 17 December, the bench reprimanded the federal government and requested for an evidence on the failure to take away such buildings.
On the third listening to on 9 January 2025, the bench disposed of the case on procedural grounds, mentioning {that a} contempt petition in an identical case relationship again to 2005 with related prayers has been pending within the court docket since 2014. The petitioner was free to membership the present petition with the pending contempt petition.
“It got here as a shock,” stated Satish Verma, one of many attorneys representing the petitioner. “I filed a case in 2005 to take away 32 non secular buildings constructed on public properties that are creating hurdles within the growth of Jabalpur metropolis. In 2013, the excessive court docket requested the district administration to abide by the order inside three months. When the administration did not adjust to the order, I filed a contempt petition in 2014 which has been pending ever since.”
As the sooner petition was restricted to Jabalpur, a recent petition to cowl the whole state has been filed, Verma added. Between 17 December and 9 January, what occurred to change the court docket’s stand?