Former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh was served a notice by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) on Tuesday to demolish his “illegally constructed house” within five days.
The JDA warned Singh that if the construction at Ban in Jammu is not razed within the stipulated time, the authority will use its enforcement wing for the same and the cost will be recovered from him.
The notice said Singh had not attained valid permission from the competent authority to construct the house.
"Now, therefore in exercise of power conferred under Section 7 (3) Control of Building Operation Act, 1988 read with Resolution No. JDA/CTP/BPC/26-B dated: 06-10-2007 of the Building Operations Controlling Authority Jammu Local Area, you are hereby directed to remove the illegal construction on your own level within five days from the date of issuance of the order," it said.
Earlier, in its reply to an RTI query about Singh’s house, the JDA had said that the building was constructed illegally between January 2016 and December 2020.
Singh and his family moved into the new house near the Army’s Ammunition Sub-depot (ASD) on July 23 last year.
A 2018 high court order had directed the authorities to ensure “strict implementation” of a 2015 notification barring general public from construction within 1,000 yards of the defence works. The order was in response to a writ petition filed by the Centre against the construction of the multi-storied house by the BJP leader just 580 yards away from the perimeter boundary wall of the ASD in Nagrota. The petition was filed after civil and police officials, despite written requests by the army, did not stop the construction. Singh was then the speaker of the J&K assembly.