Now Reading: MP government faces Supreme Court contempt over Bhopal sealing halt
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MP government faces Supreme Court contempt over Bhopal sealing halt
The Supreme Court on August 5 initiated contempt proceedings against the Madhya Pradesh government for stalling the Bhopal Municipal Corporation's (BMC) sealing drive against illegal commercial establishments in residential areas. A bench…
The Story in Brief
The Supreme Court on August 5 initiated contempt proceedings against the Madhya Pradesh government for stalling the Bhopal Municipal Corporation's (BMC) sealing drive against illegal commercial establishments in residential areas. A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan said the government's August 2 decision to form a 10-member committee to examine occupancy violations "absolutely collided" with the court's earlier directions. The court ordered the Jabalpur High Court to vacate three interim stay orders and gave the state government five weeks to submit a report, with the next hearing on September 15.
Separately, Siasat.com reports that the BMC submitted a false action taken report to the Supreme Court, claiming nearly 100 establishments were sealed. Ground verification found only two properties were actually sealed, while the rest had shut voluntarily. The BMC had issued notices to 1,018 establishments. Manish Gupta, a petitioner in the case, called the report "misleading" and demanded strict action against officials who prepared it.
The Indian Opinion
The state government's move to create a committee to study violations sounds reasonable until you see it as a way to delay court orders. The Supreme Court rightly called it an absolute collision. But the BMC's alleged false report is equally troubling. If officials inflate numbers to please the court, public trust in the sealing drive collapses. The test will be whether the contempt proceedings lead to action against individual officers and whether the next report matches ground reality. Citizens of Bhopal deserve honesty from both the state and the civic body.
Sources (2): freepressjournal.in, siasat.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
