A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday adjourned by three weeks the hearing on the appeal filed by the State government against a single judge verdict restraining the Thiruvananthapuram District Disaster Management Authority from demolishing Rajadhani Building owned by hotelier Biju Ramesh that had encroached on a major canal in Thiruvananthapuram city.
The single judge had held that the there was no provision in the Disaster Management Act conferring power on the authority to decide on the proprietary interest of a person. The State government argued that the District Disaster Management Authority had the power to initiate proceedings to remove encroachments. The judgment of the single judge was totally against the spirit, principle as well as objectives of the Disaster Management Act.