Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Feb 7 : In a significant relief to four property owners in Jamshedpur, the Supreme Court has stayed the demolition of their buildings located within the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) command area , directing authorities to maintain status quo for the time being.
The order puts on hold the demolition directions issued earlier by the Jharkhand High Court in connection with alleged illegal constructions and deviations from sanctioned building plans.
The interim relief was granted by a bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta during the hearing of Ganga Regency LLP versus Rakesh Kumar Jha and Others. The apex court restrained JNAC from taking any coercive action against four constructions, including Ganga Regency and the Patiala Wines building, until further orders.
Issuing notices to the concerned parties, the Supreme Court also directed that the matter be tagged with other connected cases pending before it. The petitioners were represented by advocates Vineet Sinha and Devesh Ajmani.
The petitioners contended that the Jharkhand High Court had ordered demolition solely on the basis of a report submitted by a three-advocate committee, without granting them any opportunity of being heard. They argued that such action violated principles of natural justice and would cause them irreparable loss. It was further submitted that they were not even parties to the original public interest litigation, yet adverse orders were passed against them.
The challenge before the Supreme Court is against the Jharkhand High Court’s orders dated January 14 and January 28, 2026, passed in a PIL filed by Rakesh Kumar Jha. The High Court had directed JNAC to demolish alleged illegal constructions of 24 respondents in the notified area.
Subsequent applications seeking relief were also dismissed on January 28 and 29, prompting the affected parties to approach the apex court.
While the High Court’s directions remain intact for the other constructions, the Supreme Court’s status quo order has, for now, halted demolition proceedings in four specific cases, offering temporary reprieve and reopening the legal debate over due process and the right to be heard.
