- (1.)In this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for grant of a declaration that Section 5, 11(1) and 12(2) of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952 (for short, the Act) are unconstitutional. He has also prayed for quashing of the notices Annexures P-1 and P-2 and the order Annexure P-3 issued/passed by the Sub Divisional Magistrate and Land Acquisition Officer, exercising the power of the Deputy Commissioner under the Act and to restrain the respondents from demolishing his built up structures.
(2.)A perusal of the record shows that the petitioner is doing the business of wood, steel shuttering, storage of cement and iron in village Kajheri...... served with notice of the Act by the Sub Divisional Magistrate, exercising the powers of the Deputy Commissioner, Chandigarh (under the Periphery Control Act, 1952) (respondent No. 2) requiring him to remove the alleged unauthorised construction raised on the land falling within the periphery. After three years, another notice dated 2.7.1998 (Annexure P-2) issued under Section 12(2) of the Act was served upon the petitioner for removal of the alleged unauthorised construction. Thereafter, the Land Acquisition Officer passed an order dated 18.9.1998 Annexure P-3 for demolition of the disputed construction on the ground that it had been raised in contravention of Sections 5, 6 and 11 of the Act.
(3.)The petitioner has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 5, 11(1) and 12(2) of the Act on the ground that the same are not only unworkable but are also discriminatory. He has averred that the Act does not contain any guide-line for exercising the power to remove or to regularize the so-called illegal construction and the officers of the Union Territory Administration have been following the policy of pick and choose for regularizing the illegal construction. He has further averred that the impugned notices and order are ultra vires to the provisions of the Act and are also violative of the principles of natural justice.