Bombay High Court refused to protect a Pune school’s unauthorised building, calling the construction illegal and beyond regularisation. The court firmly stated, “Illegality is incurable.”
Mumbai: Today, On May 13, The Bombay High Court recently refused to give relief to a Pune-based school that was seeking protection against a demolition order for a building it had constructed without legal permission.
The court strongly stated that if a structure is built illegally, it cannot be regularised just because it serves a good purpose or benefits many people.
A division bench of Justice A.S. Gadkari and Justice Kamal Khata passed the order on May 9, clearly stating that the law does not allow illegal construction to be overlooked or later approved, regardless of how useful the building may be.
The school, which caters to around 2,000 students, had approached the court to stop the authorities from taking down its unauthorised construction.
However, the judges made it clear that providing education to a large number of students cannot be used as a reason to ignore the illegality of the structure.
The court stated:
“Illegality is inherently incurable.”
The judges noted that in many parts of Maharashtra, people have developed a habit of constructing buildings without taking proper legal permission.
Later, they approach the authorities or the courts to get such illegal structures regularised, believing that they will not face any serious consequences.
The court criticised this mindset and said that such practices need to be discouraged.
The court said:
“There is this common belief in Maharashtra that one can construct structures illegally and without permission and subsequently seek regularisation.”
The High Court made it very clear that just because a structure is being used for a good cause—such as running a school for children—it does not mean the law can be bent or overlooked.
Allowing such illegal acts will encourage more people to break the law and hope for mercy later.
In this case, since the building was clearly unauthorised and did not have proper approvals, the court found no legal ground to protect the structure from demolition.
The court refused to grant any relief to the school and directed that the demolition should go ahead according to the law.
This judgment serves as a strong message to all individuals and organisations that choose to bypass legal procedures while constructing buildings.
The Bombay High Court has made it clear that illegality cannot be justified or cured later, and strict action will be taken in such cases to uphold the rule of law.
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