MUMBAI, Sept. 1 -- The Bombay High Court recently held that illegal constructions and occupancy of such constructions bring about a serious impact on the limited infrastructure facilities and valuable resources available to the public at large, which are required to be used legitimately and optimally. "The rights of persons occupying illegal constructions, in capacity of the valuable resources and infrastructural facilities, can never be recognised," the court said. "Resources like water and electricity, as also, common public amenities like gardens, playgrounds, etc., are available only for those occupying authorised buildings in planned layouts," the court said on August 21 while hearing a 2024 petition filed by Rahul Chandrakant Pawar, a resident. The petition challenged the construction of an unauthorised building at Vartak Nagar in Thane (West). The structure in question stands on a plot of land bounded by Sai Chintamani Building on the East, Vaishnavi Apartments on the West, Sai Yog Apartments on the North, and Sai Chintamani Building on the South. Assistant Commissioner of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), Shaila S. Naik, informed the court that TMC has not issued an occupancy certificate (OC) for the building. Therefore, it issued eviction notices to occupants on January 12, 2024. Following this, on February 13, 2025, TMC initiated demolition of the structure. Naik said that the internal walls of all four floors had been demolished by June. The water and electricity connections in the building were disconnected, thus making it uninhabitable, she said. On August 21, the advocate representing TMC said, "The remaining offending structure will be demolished within 6 weeks and will be brought down to ground zero." After accepting TMC's statements, a division bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Manjusha Deshpande expressed concerns over the recurrent issue of illegal constructions on the same plot. Recalling a 2009 high court ruling in connection with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the court had ordered the removal of encroachment and demolition of a building consisting of ground-plus-five floors on the same plot. "It is a matter of serious concern for the Municipal Commissioner as to how such construction was again undertaken in 2017-18, and who are the officials permitting such illegal construction," the bench said....